NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Halliburton Co. completed one $500 million deal and readied another after the markets closed Thursday, while the federal government disclosed it had awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $1.6 billion contract to produce at least 16 stealth jets.
Halliburton Co.
Dresser Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Halliburton Co. (HAL), sold its 49 percent stake in Ingersoll Dresser Pump Co. to its joint venture partner for $515 million.
The sale to Ingersoll-Rand Co., which holds the remaining 51 percent interest, will result in a $165 million, or 37 cents per share, after-tax gain in Halliburton’s fourth-quarter earnings, company officials said.
The Dallas-based supplier of products and services to the energy industry also said the previously-announced sale of Dresser’s 51 percent interest in Dresser-Rand Co. to Ingersoll is awaiting one remaining approval from Argentina regulators, where the company exports products and services.
Final closing of that $579 million deal is expected in January. Halliburton expects to incur an after-tax gain of $225 million, or 51 cents per share, during the first quarter of 2000 related to that sale.
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines (CAL), the nation’s fifth-largest airline, took an undisclosed, minority stake Thursday in Gulfstream International Airlines, a privately held, Florida-based regional carrier.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The two airlines have operated under a code-sharing agreement since 1997, giving Continental passengers access to Gulfstream’s routes in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
Greg Brenneman, Continental’s president and chief operating officer, said the deal would allow the airlines’ relationship to "grow over the next 10 years.”
Gulfstream ranks as the third-largest carrier out of Miami International Airport and flies 230 daily departures out of 10 Florida cities, five Bahaman destinations and five Caribbean islands.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) was awarded contracts totaling $1.6 billion to produce six test models of the F-22 fighter jet and begin initial work on 10 planned production jets, the Air Force said.
The work, divided among three contracts, is another step in a cautious approach by Congress and the Pentagon to produce more than 300 of the radar-avoiding stealth jets for the Air Force in the coming decades at a cost of about $65 billion.
Two F-22 test models have already been delivered by Lockheed and are being tested by the Air Force. The Pentagon has already spent an estimated $21 billion on research and development into what would become the most expensive fighter program ever.
The Air Force said on Thursday that Lockheed, the chief contractor on the program, had been awarded $1.2 billion to produce an additional six so-called "Production Representative" test models of the F-22 by 2002.
Consolidated Delivery & Logistics Inc.
Consolidated Delivery & Logistics Inc. (CDV) and Dispatch Management Services Corp. (RPD) ended their merger discussions Thursday.
The two companies announced earlier this month that they had entered talks regarding a possible merger of equals. No reason was given for why the discussions fell apart.
Consolidated Delivery, based in Clifton, N.J., operates out of 24 states and the District of Columbia providing delivery and logistic services.
Dispatch, headquartered in New York, provides delivery services from its offices in 24 U.S. metropolitan areas, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
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Friday’s outlook
With both the stock and bond market slated to close down for the year at 1 p.m. Friday, and the initial public offering market shuttered until Monday, there is little expected in the way of earnings or major announcements.
There are also no major economic releases slated for Friday, in what is expected to be a very light trading day. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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