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Monday mergers total $31B
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March 15, 1999: 9:17 a.m. ET
Banking, energy, chemical, telecom companies follow acquisitive instincts
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Four major mergers with a combined value of nearly $31 billion were announced Monday in industries ranging from banking, energy, chemicals and telecommunications. Here's a look at the morning's biggest deals, all announced before the start of trading.
Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston announced plans to merge in a $16 billion deal that will create a New England financial powerhouse. The combined company, to be called Fleet Boston Corp., will have assets of $180 billion, making it the eighth-largest bank in the country, the two companies said Sunday.
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DuPont has turned its back on a deal with Monsanto and chosen instead to spend $7.7 billion to acquire the seed giant's closest rival, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, in a cash and stock deal. The acquisition increases DuPont's (DD) stake in the country's largest seed producer from the 20 percent acquired in 1997 to 100 percent, and gives it a solid foothold in the fast-growing biotechnology sector.
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Ciena Corp., a maker of equipment for fiber-optic networks, said it agreed to buy two closely held makers of telecommunications gear -- Lightera Networks and Omnia Communications -- for about $980 million in stock. Ciena (CIEN), based in Maryland, said it will acquire all of Lightera in exchange for about 20.6 million Ciena common shares, or about $552 million based on Friday's closing prices, and all of Omnia for 16 million shares, or $429 million.
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El Paso Energy Corp. said it is buying Sonat Inc., creating one of the country's largest natural gas companies. In the deal, announced Monday, each share of Sonat (SNT)will be converted into one El Paso (EPG) share, valuing the transaction at $4 billion. El Paso also will assume $2 billion of Sonat debt.
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