News In Brief

By CompiledRobert Kilborn, Judy Nichols, and Sara Steindorf

November 24, 2000

No further discussions were planned between Coca-Cola and Quaker Oats Co. after the soft drink maker's board of directors rejected a proposed $15.75 billion takeover, reports said. The directors issued a statement saying only that they were pleased with the company's "current strategic course." Coca-Cola apparently most wanted Quaker's Gatorade brand, which dominates the US sports drink market. Another onetime suitor, the giant French processed foods company Danone, said Coca-Cola's move could cause it to reconsider acquiring Quaker Oats.

The purchase of a $9 billion, 20 percent stake in AT&T's Wireless Group Inc. by a Nippon Telegraph & Telephone subsidiary could be announced as early as Monday, industry sources said. DoCoMo is the world's No. 1 telecommunications company in terms of market value. It already holds - or reportedly plans to acquire - similarly sized stakes in wireless companies in Canada, the Netherlands, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co., the No. 2 automaker in South Korea, will not be permitted to go into receivership unless the union representing most of its 19,000 employees agrees to deep job cuts, the nation's Finance Ministry said. The union has rejected the proposed layoffs of 3,500 workers, and its stance caused the collapse of a vital restructuring plan earlier this month. Creditors say they now want even more layoffs. As of Sept. 30, Daewoo owed an estimated $16.7 billion. A Finance Ministry spokesman said the only likely option remaining - if receivership was denied - would be liquidating the automaker's assets.