News In Brief

The second-largest purchase of a US company by a Japanese business was announced in Tokyo by NTT Communications, a subsidiary of the giant Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. NTT said it will pay $5.5 billion for the stock it does not already own in Englewood, Colo.-based Verio Inc., which manages Web sites for 400,000 clients. The value of the deal is second only to Japan Tobacco Inc.'s $7.8 billion purchase last May of the nontobacco business of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.

The friendly $5.5 billion takeover of New York-based advertising agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R) by British rival WPP may be announced as soon as today, industry sources said in London. The sources said the two sides had resolved such differences as Y&R's demand for full autonomy in the first year after a merger and large payoffs to Y&R executives, which caused the takeover negotiations to break down late last month.

Money manager Amvescap is expected to purchase Canadian fund company Trimark Financial for $1.81 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The acquisition would boost the former's assets worldwide to about $400 billion, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the situation. Amvescap, based in London, already runs stock funds in Canada through its AIM Funds Management subsidiary. Trimark is based in Toronto.

Electronics component provider QLogic of Aliso Viejo, Calif., signed a deal to buy fiber switchmaker Ancor Communications in a stock deal worth about $1.7 billion. Each company's directors approved the transaction, but regulatory agencies and shareholders have yet to OK it. Ancor is based in Eden Prairie, Minn.

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