Stories about: Nabisco

By the time the board of retailing giant Coles Group recommended Wesfarmers' $21.9 billion takeover bid this week, the company had been in play for over a year. During that time its executives had to steer a steady course; maintaining shareholder value and positioning the business for future growth - setting to one side the knowledge that everything being done today could be unravelled tomorrow by a new owner.

Flextronics International, one of the world's top contract electronics manufacturers, said Sunday it agreed to sell its software business to an affiliate of buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in a deal valued at US$900 million.

Former IBM Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Louis V. Gerstner Jr., who is widely credited for rescuing the technology titan from its downward spiral in the early 1990s, said that the Internet literally saved IBM by giving it a new market to conquer.

With 60 Web sites, 20,000 Web pages and approximately 100 page changes per month to manage, you would think that Chris Strout wouldn't dwell on the past. But Strout, Web site manager at Chicago-based insurance brokerage Aon Corp., says that preserving historical Web site information is critical to meeting his company's regulatory obligations.

Dell Computer Corp. last Friday acquired Plural Inc. to boost its services businesses in its second acquisition.

"Fill 'er up" may take on a new meaning at the petrol pump after Ten Square officially rolls out its point-of-sale network this week.

The next version of Microsoft Corp.'s Office suite will leave millions of Windows users behind when it arrives next year, because it won't be able to run on Windows 95. Some 65 million copies of that operating system may still be in use then, according to one estimate.

E-MAIL WHAT U SAY

There may be no substitute for profits, but companies have begun to measure success in other, less traditional ways.

Efdex, an online exchange for the food and drink industry that has been funded to the tune of $65 million, is on the rocks this week. Although the site has been in development for six years, it's still in beta. Staff members haven't been paid since April, and a number of them have walked out.

U.S. Congress has made it official: Those who hoped to make large sums of money by registering internet domain names that intentionally incorporate the trademarks of others are out of business. Yet internet domain names continue to attract a great deal of attention. And no wonder. Despite persistent and generally successful attempts to thwart cybersquatters, names such as www.business.com and www.buy.com are still fetching multimillions in legitimate transactions. The temptation to make a quick buck selling domain names has not waned over time.