Stocks to Watch: Enron Files for Bankruptcy, Tyco Sets Merger

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: Dec 3, 2001 9:10 AM EST

Enron

(ENE)

filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The energy merchant also filed a lawsuit against

Dynegy

(DYN)

and is seeking damages of at least $10 billion. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract in connection with Dynegy's termination of the proposed bailout of Enron. Click

here for the full story.

Earnings Reports & Warnings

Taiwan Semiconductor

(TSM) - Get Report

expects fourth-quarter earnings to rise 150% sequentially to about 3.09 billion Taiwan dollars. The company also expects revenue to increase 22% from the third quarter to about T$39 billion. The estimated earnings are still about 86% below the year-ago quarter, while revenue would be down 39%. The company predicted full-year earnings of T$13.2 billion, or T$0.76 a share.

Mergers, Acquisitions & Joint Ventures

Ballard Power's

(BLDP) - Get Report

transportation division signed a three-year agreement valued at $43.9 million to supply

Ford

(F) - Get Report

with fuel cell engines and related engineering and support services.

Cephalon

(CEPH)

plans to acquire French pharmaceutical company Group Lafon for $450 million in cash. With the acquisition, Cephalon would gain the worldwide rights to Provigil tablets. The companies expect to close the deal by the end of the year.

MedImmune

(MEDI)

agreed to acquire

Aviron

(AVIR)

for stock worth $47.41 a share, or $1.5 billion. Aviron owns an experimental flu-prevention treatment called FluMist that Medimmune hopes to launch next year.

Tyco International

(TYC)

agreed to acquire

Paragon Trade Brands

(PGTR)

, a supplier of infant disposable diapers and other absorbent personal care products, for $43.50 a share in cash. Tyco, an acquisitive conglomerate, will call all of Paragon's warrants outstanding. Including the assumption of debt and the call of the warrants, the transaction is valued at about $650 million.

Offerings

Aon

(AOC)

filed a $750 million universal shelf registration statement with U.S. securities regulators. The insurance company expects that a substantial portion of the securities will be for a common equity offering planned for the first quarter of 2002, depending on market conditions.

Nvidia

(NVDA) - Get Report

filed a shelf registration with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

to sell up to 20 million common shares from time to time.

Miscellaneous News

Movie Gallery

(MOVI)

declared a 3-for-2 stock split, payable Jan. 3 to shareholders of record Dec. 17.

Workers at the Pratt & Whitney unit of

United Technologies

have decided to go on strike. The decision to strike came after the International Association of Machinists in Connecticut voted to reject the company's final contract offer. Pratt & Whitney said it has nearly 2,000 salaried and supervisory personnel ready to move into place in production jobs.