Charles Schwab, the world's largest online discount broker, said Thursday that it will buy US Trust Corp., an investment management firm, for US$2.7 billion in stock.
San Francisco-based Schwab, which will issue 3.427 of its shares for one US Trust share, intends to use the acquisition to form a full-service brokerage.
The merger, expected to close in July, combines Schwab's customer base of mostly retail investors with US Trust's wealthy clients.
Together, the companies have $800 million in customer assets, $4.5 billion in revenues, and would have had $663 million in profits last year, the companies said in a statement.
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Profits in hand?: Motorola Inc., the telecommunications and technology giant, will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Monday, and all eyes will be on the performance of its telephone handset division.
Analysts expect Motorola to post operating earnings more than three times last year's impaired level, boosted mainly by its handset business, which thrived in a booming market for wireless phones.
One analyst anticipates the company's handset business to report between 30 and 35 percent growth as the demand for wireless phones surges.
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European expansion: Cable & Wireless, Britain's third largest telecom, is plowing $1 billion into eight regional ISPs to help widen its presence in Europe.
The deal comes as Cable & Wireless begins focusing on turning itself into a provider of data transmission services to international corporate customers.
It follows by two days Vodafone AirTouch's announcement that it plans to create a global Internet portal through partnerships with Nokia, Ericsson, IBM, and several others.
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Flying low: United Airlines' parent company, UAL Corp., faced with rising fuel costs and probable wage increases for unionized workers, is lowering its financial forecast for 2000 to below Wall Street's expectations.
United, the world's largest airline, now expects earnings of between $7 and $9 a share, rather than the $9.82 forecast by analysts.
Meanwhile, the carrier said it plans to start a new unit focused entirely on promoting ticket sales and other travel products over the Internet.
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On Target: Dayton Hudson Corp., the fifth largest US retailer, wants to boost its name recognition a little. What better way than to rename itself after its most successful division?
So as of 30 January, Dayton Hudson will be known as Target Corp., trading under the ticker symbol TGT on the New York Stock Exchange.
The 1,245 Target stores, operating in 44 states, account for 75 percent of Dayton Hudson's business.
Reuters contributed to this report.
