News In Brief

A major, but financially troubled bank became the first in Japan to be acquired by overseas interests. The Tokyo government's Financial Reconstruction Commission announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the sale of Long Term Credit Bank (LTCB) to a consortium led by New York-based Ripplewood Holdings and including GE Capital Corp., Mellon Bank, Paine Webber, ABM Amro Bank, and Deutsche Bank. LTCB was nationalized last year after being declared insolvent. Ripplewood outbid at least two Japanese banks for the property.

In a $1.5 billion all-stock deal, telecommunications giant Alcatel of France announced an agreement to buy San Francisco-based Genesys Laboratories, a leading international provider of software applications for business. It was Alcatel's fifth purchase in the US in 12 months.

Chase Manhattan said it's buying Hambrecht & Quist, an investment banking firm whose home office is in San Francisco, for $1.35 billion in cash. The deal will give Chase, the US's third-biggest banking company, broad securities-underwriting capabilities and enable it to offer a wider range of financial services.

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