News In Brief

Alliedsignal inc. is buying Honeywell Inc. for $13.79 billion in stock, strengthening its aerospace business with the addition of Honeywell's control systems, the companies announced. The new entity will take the Honeywell name and AlliedSignal's headquarters in Morristown, N.J. Honeywell's headquarters in Minneapolis will be closed, and about 4,500 jobs, or 3.6 percent of the firms' combined work force, will be eliminated.

Zions Bancorp. said it agreed to buy First Security Corp. in a $5.9 billion stock deal that would create the 20th-largest US bank out of two longtime Utah competitors. The acquisition will result in the loss up to 2,000 jobs, or nearly 12 percent of the banks' combined work force, officials said.

Plans for a merger that would result in the largest steel manufacturer in Europe were announced by Koninklijke Hoogovens NV of the Netherlands and British Steel. The deal, valued at $6.5 billion, is not expected to change the latter's plan to eliminate thousands of jobs. The company posted a $103.6 million loss for fiscal year 1998.