Midday Stocks to Watch: NVS, EGRP, FTE, GTW, LU, NOK, VSTR, GELX, SLE

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M&A Analyst actions Offerings/stock actions Miscellany

SDL (SDLI) shot up 23 3/4, or 12%, to 221 5/8 after Thomas Weisel analyst Max Schuetz lifted his rating on the stock to strong buy from buy. The stock was the top gainer on the Nasdaq Stock Market at midday.

Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

Adaptive Broadband(ADAP) climbed 4, or 21.7%, to 22 7/16 after it entered into an agreement with Comtech Telecommunications(CMTL) to sell its EFData division for $61.5 million in cash. Comtech was lately climbing 2 3/4, or 26.8%, to 13. Adaptive will retain certain current assets of the business totaling approximately $6.3 million.

Adaptive expects to recognize a net book gain on the divestiture and expects to retain all of the cash due to the company's deferred income tax benefits. Two other divisions are in the process of being divested and the results of all three transactions will be combined and reported. The EFData transaction is expected to close by June 30.

BarnesandNoble.com (BNBN) edged up 5/8, or 7.1%, to 9 3/8 after it said it has purchased a minority interest in notHarvard.com. BarnesandNoble.com said the two companies would form Barnes & Noble University , which would offer free online education. The terms call for BarnesandNoble.Com to become the major distributor of notHarvard.com's eduCommerce course materials.

CIBA Vision, the eye care unit of Novartis AG(NVS) and Wesley Jessen VisionCare(WJCO) announced an agreement whereby CIBA Vision will acquire Wesley Jessen for $38.50 a share in cash, or a total of approximately $785 million. The offer represents a premium of about 17% over the closing price of Wesley Jessen's shares on May 26, 2000.

CIBA Vision will begin a cash tender offer within five business days for all outstanding shares of Wesley Jessen common stock. Upon completion, the combined company will be the world's second largest contact lens company.

As a result of the agreement with CIBA Vision, Wesley Jessen terminated its previously announced merger agreement with Ocular Sciences(OCLR) and paid Ocular Sciences a $25 million termination fee. Also, Wesley Jessen postponed indefinitely its annual shareholder meeting scheduled for June 23. Novartis slipped 1/8 to 37, Wesley Jessen jumped 4 1/16, or 12.2%, to 37 1/4 and Ocular Sciences dropped 1 3/8, or 9.2%, to 13 5/8.

E*Trade added 7/16 to 15 5/16 after it and Ernst & Young signed a letter of intent to establish a new company that will provide financial advice for investors by creating a personal electronic advisory service for E*Trade's growing 2.6 million customer accounts. The companies will each contribute $25 million to the joint venture.

France Telecom(FTE) hopped 6 13/16, or 5.2%, to 137 13/16 after it said it would buy British-based mobile phone company Orangefrom Vodafone Airtouch(VOD), in a deal valued at $37.32 billion. Vodafone was lately rising 3 11/16, or 8.8%, to 45 11/16.

Gateway(GTW) gained 1 1/4 to 48 1/16 after it said it would use a processor from chip maker Transmeta to run Web appliances it is making with America Online(AOL). AOL was lately up 3 5/16, or 6.7%, to 51 7/8. Gateway said it tapped Transmeta to provide the operating system for the products, turning away from the combination of Intel(INTC) hardware and Microsoft(MSFT) software. Intel was rising 4 to 121 9/16, while Microsoft moved up 1 7/16 to 62 7/8.

Guilford Pharmaceuticals(GLFD) lost 1 3/4, or 11.3%, to 13 3/4 after it agreed to buy Gliatech(GLIA) for roughly $203 million. Gliatech gained 2, or 12.2%, to 18 3/8. According to the terms, Guilford would exchange 1.38 of its share for each share of Gliatech.

InterNAP Network Services(INAP), an Internet connectivity provider, climbed 1 1/4 to 26 7/8 after it signed a definitive agreement to acquire CO Space, a leading co-location service provider. The acquisition will give InterNAP the ability to accelerate the delivery of its IP connectivity service to customers with co-location requirements.

Terms of the agreement call for InterNAP common stock, with an aggregate value of approximately $244 million, to be exchanged for all outstanding shares and rights to acquire shares of CO Space's capital stock. The number of shares to be issued is subject to a "collar" with a maximum of 8.8 million shares of InterNAP common stock and a minimum of 7.2 million shares to be issued for CO Space. The acquisition, which was approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2000, is subject to certain closing conditions, including approval by CO Space's stockholders and approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

Lucent(LU) rose 1/2 to 56 1/4 after The Wall Street Journal reported it is negotiating a possible acquisition of privately held optical networking company Chromatis Networks, for roughly $5 billion in stock.

Nokia(NOK) gained 2 7/8, or 6%, to 50 15/16 after it signed a deal to supply KPNQwest(KQIP) with digital subscriber line equipment and technology for the supply of high-speed broadband access services in Europe. KPNQwest climbed 2 11/16, or 9%, to 32 5/8.

According to a release from Nokia, in the first phase of its European expansion plan, KPNQwest will launch full commercial services in Germany during the third quarter.

SBC Communications(SBC) rose 13/16 to 43 7/16 after the Journal reported it will announce partnerships as part of its plan to broaden its 13-state territory and provide nationwide telecommunications services. According to the Journal , SBC has entered deals to lease fiber capacity with Metromedia Fiber Network(MFNX) and FPL Group (FPL) FiberNet. Metromedia Fiber was lately moving up 3 1/2, or 13.7%, to 29, while FPL lost 3/4 to 49. SBC Telecom President Ron Blake said its agreement with MFN is worth about $460 million, while its 20-year pact with FPL is valued at $100 million. The terms of SBC Communications merger with Ameritech call for SBC to expand outside of its home territory, the Journal reported.

Scientific-Atlanta(SFA) sailed up 5 13/16, or 11.4%, to 56 5/8 and Adelphia(ADLAC) hopped 4 1/4, or 10.9%, to 43 1/4 after the companies said they have entered a deal which calls for Adelphia to pay more than $550 million for Scientific-Atlanta's digital set-tops and cable modems.

Japan-based NTT DoCoMo is negotiating purchase of an equity interest in VoiceStream Wireless(VSTR). The terms of the deal were not announced yet, but it could total billions, reported The Wall Street Journal VoiceStream popped 9, or 9%, to 109 3/8..

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Analyst actions

Lehman Brothers this morning initiated coverage of the PC and semiconductor industry. The initiations come after analyst Dan Niles, late of Robertson Stephens, last week joined the firm. Compaq(CPQ), Dell(DELL) and Micron Technology(MUEI) were launched with buy ratings; Advanced Micro Devices(AMD) and Gateway(GTW) were launched with outperform ratings and Apple Computer(AAPL) was launched with a neutral rating.

Compaq added 1/8 to 26 7/16 and Dell tacked on 1/8 to 42 7/16, while Micron Technology jumped 4 1/4, or 6.5%, to 68 7/8. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 7 3/16, or 9.7%, to 81 3/16 and Gateway edged up 1 3/16 to 48, while Micron Electronics lifted 3/4, or 9%, to 9. Apple slipped 3 to 83 3/8.

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Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares of Office Depot (ODP) to market performer from outperform. Merrill Lynch also downgraded the stock to long-term accumulate from long-term buy.

Office Depot slid 5/8, or 8.2%, to 7.

Upgrades

eSpeed (ESPD): UP to strong buy from buy at Chase Hambrecht & Quist. eSpeed moved up 2 9/16, or 10.7%, to 26 7/16.

Mastec (MTZ): UP to strong buy from buy at Banc of America. Mastec bounced 4 13/16, or 7.6%, to 67 3/8.

Starwood Hotels (HOT): UP to market outperform from market perform at Goldman Sachs. Starwood tacked on 1 3/16 to 29 5/8.

Downgrades

American Freightways (AFWY): DOWN to hold from buy at Credit Suisse First Boston. American Freightways declined 3/16 to 14 5/8.

Millennium Chemicals(MCH): DOWN to neutral from attractive at Bear Stearns. Millennium Chemicals edged up 3/16 to 20 7/16.

Splash Technologies(SPLH): DOWN to buy from strong buy. Splash lost 3 3/16, or 28.3%, to 8 1/16.

Initiations

Crown Media (CRWN): NEW buy at Salomon Smith Barney; price target: 20. Crown Media climbed 3/4, or 7.5%, to 10 3/4.

Orchid Biosciences (ORCH): NEW buy at Credit Suisse First Boston; price target: 30. Orchid Biosciences lifted 7/16 to 11.

Pure Resources(PRS): NEW market performer at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. Pure Resources advanced 1/4 to 15.

Software Technologies(STCS): NEW buy at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette; price target of 30. Software Technologies skidded 1/4 to 16 1/2.

Sonic Innovations (SNCI): NEW buy at DB Alex. Brown. Sonic Innovations climbed 1/8 to 19 3/8.

StarMedia Networks (STRM): NEW buy at CSFB; price target: 29. StarMedia Networks tacked on 11/16 to 15 3/4.

ViroLogic (VLGC): NEW strong buy at CIBC Oppenheimer; price target: 17. ViroLogic bounced 5/8, or 11.6%, to 6.

Group Moves

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgraded three communication companies this morning:

• Acme Communications (ACME): UP to strong buy from outperform. Acme jumped 1, or 11.1%, to 9 15/16.

• Comcast(CMCSA): UP to strong buy from outperform. Comcast hopped 3, or 9.6%, to 34 1/4.

• Cox Communications(COX): UP to outperform from neutral. Cox Communications popped 1 11/16 to 41 1/2.

Credit Suisse First Boston initiated coverage of three leisure and gaming companies with buy ratings:

• Carnival (CCL) climbed 7/8 to 25 13/16.

• Royal Carribean(RCL) edged up 9/16 to 23 13/16.

• Steiner Leisure(STNR) skidded 1/2 to 22.

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Offerings and stock actions

Handspring, a rival to the hand-held computer Palm (PALM), said it lowered the expected price range for its 10 million-share IPO to $17-$19 a share from $19-$22. First Boston is serving as the deal's lead underwriter. Palm was lately rising 1 3/4, or 8.2%, to 23 1/8.

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Miscellany

The Food and Drug Administration gave GelTex Pharmaceuticals(GELX) and Sankyo Parke Davis marketing approval for Welchol, a nonabsorbed, lipid-lowering agent. GelTex gained 1 1/8, or 6.3%, to 19.

The FDA approved Welchol, administered alone or in combination with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, as adjunctive therapy to diet and exercise for the reduction of elevated LDL cholesterol in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia. Clinical studies demonstrated that Welchol reduced total cholesterol, but increased HDL, or "good," cholesterol.

Sara Lee(SLE) slipped 3/16 to 18 3/8 after it said it will reshape its portfolio by taking some of its well-known brands public or by divesting them in an effort to focus on a smaller number of businesses that it believes have the potential to expand globally.

Sara Lee said it will conduct initial public offerings for its Coach leather goods business and PYA/Monarch food service distribution operation before December 31. After the IPOs, Sara Lee will own at least 80.1% of each business, but said it will dispose of the remaining ownership in those businesses within 18 months. The company said it will negotiate the sale of its Champion athletic apparel business and International Fabrics operation separately. International Fabrics is a part of Sara Lee's Courtaulds division, a U.K. apparel maker that Sara Lee bought recently.

Sara Lee said net effect on fiscal 2001 earnings from the reshaping will be positive and that the exact timing and financial proceeds or outlays from dispositions and three new acquisitions aren't definite at this point.

Additionally, the company said that President and COO C. Steve McMillan will become president and CEO on July 1.

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