News In Brief

Lucent Technologies will attempt to "go it alone" for the time being after the failure of megamerger negotiations with French telecommunications rival Alcatel, sources close to the talks said. The deal, estimated to be worth as much as $32 billion, collapsed Tuesday when Lucent insisted on equal representation in the ranks of both senior managers and the board of directors. Alcatel's chairman wouldn't say whether his company might still try to buy Lucent's fiber optics business at a lesser price.

Tyco International agreed to buy medical devicemaker C.R. Bard Inc. of Murray Hill, N.J., for $3.2 billion in stock. Tyco, based in Bermuda, controls more than 200 businesses in five categories worldwide.

Vivendi, the world's No. 2 media conglomerate, said it has bought back "about one-third" of its shares held by the family of executive vice president Edgar Bronfman. The price was a reported $1.1 billion. Bronfman's Seagram entertainment unit merged with Vivendi last year. Only AOL Time Warner has larger media holdings.

A "bare bones" proposal - put at $775 million by one South Korean newspaper - was offered by General Motors for bankrupt Daewoo Motor, the nation's third-largest automaker. Another publication said it had learned that GM intended to set up a new company to run Daewoo, offering up to a 49 percent share to creditor banks as payment.

Supervalu Inc., the 10th-largest US supermarket chain, will close 30 stores in three states over the next few months - a move affecting about 2,250 workers. But the company said it plans to open up to 120 Save-A-Lot stores and 10 to 15 superstores in key markets.

Data storage specialist EMC Corp. said it will cut 1,100 jobs and limit the use of consultants and contractors. The Hopkinton, Mass.-based company said three-quarters of the layoffs would be in its US operations.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor

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