News In Brief

Honeywell International Inc. is acquiring Pittway Corp., a Chicago-based burglar- and fire-alarm maker in a $2 billion deal, officials said. The fact that Honeywell is paying a hefty premium for Pittway - $45.50 per share, compared with Friday's closing price of $29 - sent the latter's stock soaring. Morristown, N.J.- based Honeywell merged Dec. 1 with AlliedSignal.

A deadline of Feb. 7 was set by Vodafone AirTouch for shareholders to accept its buyout offer for the German conglomerate Mannesmann AG and its new British telecommunications subsidiary, Orange Plc. The move is the latest in Vodafone's bid for supremacy in the European mobile-phone market. Vodafone said it would pay $127 billion, or $258.62 for each share of Mannesmann stock. Mannesmann executives say the company's shares are worth $100 more. The current record for corporate takeovers is held by MCI WorldCom, which has agreed to pay $115 billion for Sprint Corp.

Under a new working relationship, General Motors and Honda of Japan will buy engines from each other, the companies announced. The deal also is said to involve areas of technical cooperation, but Honda otherwise will remain independent. GM, which already has ties or joint ventures with Toyota, Suzuki, Isuzu, and Subaru, initiated the new arrangement, Honda executives said.

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society