GE-Honeywell merger OK'd

        The government Wednesday tentatively approved General Electric Co.'s merger with Honeywell International Inc. The Justice Department agreement sanctioning the deal requires Honeywell to divest its helicopter engine business and authorize new third-party maintenance and repair service for some of its aircraft engines.

        The department said the military would have faced higher prices, lower quality and reduced innovation without the divestiture. Final approval of the $42 billion merger hinges on the negotiation of a consent decree.

        GE and Honeywell are the two premier manufacturers of U.S. military helicopter engines. GE dominates the market for aircraft engines and servicing, while Honeywell is the predominant supplier of aircraft electronics for commercial jets. Honeywell also dominates the market for air traffic control systems.
       

Factory orders grow

        Orders to U.S. factories registered their first increase of the year in March, reflecting stronger demand for airplanes, cars and other transportation equipment.

        The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders increased by a bigger-than-expected 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted $370.5 billion. Many analysts were predicting a 1.5 percent rise.
       

Judge tells PepsiCo no

        PepsiCo Inc.'s bid to bypass an independent bottler and sell directly to food-service chains was rejected by a federal judge, who found the No.2 soft drink maker's claims to be “without merit.”

        U.S. District Judge Sandra C. Beckwith in Cincinnati ruled last week that PepsiCo had no right to sell soft drink syrup directly to food-service chains in regions where Central Investment Corp. Inc. and Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. unit had exclusive territories.

        The suit, filed in 1998, claimed the bottlers failed to aggressively market and distribute Pepsi products under terms of perpetual agreements made in the late 1950s and 1960s and sought to remove them from the distribution system. PepsiCo sought to make the direct sales to compete more effectively with Coca-Cola Co., the top soft drink maker.
       

Toy store names CEO

        Zany Brainy Inc., a King of Prussia, Pa., toy retailer whose shares have fallen more than 90 percent in the past year, named Thomas Vellios chief executive.

        Mr. Vellios, president since January 1998, was named acting chief executive in September after Keith Spurgeon resigned.
       

Campbell Soup closing plant

        Campbell Soup Co. plans to close a Melbourne factory in September 2002 and fire 434 workers as part of a $51.9 million, two-year restructuring of the company's Arnott's unit, Australia's largest cookie maker.

        Cookie production will be moved to plants in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, Campbell said. The company plans to spend $30 million to upgrade those facilities. The Melbourne factory was built more than 50 years ago.

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