European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 31, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday december 31,1987 the stars and stripes Page 13 business news shaky 1987 was a big year for big deals by Bob Webster los Angeles up a Reform and the Stock Market collapse combined in 1987 to Stow the shuffling of corporate ownership with fewer businesses Chang ing hands than in the previous year and several deals Tift in the lurch. Still big deals were big deals in 1987. It s been a Good year not quite up As huge As last year but a very very Active year said Many Sikora editor of merger & acquisitions a Philadelphia mag Azine that follows merger activity As the year Drew to a close a total of 4,654 mergers had been announced with a value of $275.5 billion compared with 4.757 mergers with a value of $249 Bil lion during the firs 11 months of last year Sikora said. As of . 30, 3,246 acquisitions Worth $142.6 billion had been completed compared with 3,350 deals Worth $159.2 billion he year before. For All of 19es, 4,311 deals were completed Worth a record s204j billion. The wave of big Buck mergers and acquisitions continued last year with the $7.6 billion buyout if Standard Oil co. Of Cleveland by British Petroleum Ltd. Leading the Way As the year s most costly corporate pairing during inc year 30 mergers valued at $ t billion or More were completed com pared with 19 mergers of similar value the year before mergers valued at More than $100 million totalled 254 during i9b7. Compared with 251 the year be fore according to . Grimm & co., a Chicago consulting company that specializes in arranging mergers. Deals were larger in 1987 because buyers must offer More attractive bids to compensate for the penalties the buyers face in the new tax Laws said ale Ladi As Grimm s research director. New Federal Laws did away with advantageous la treatment of corporate acquisitions and allowed acquiring companies to be taxed on he True value of assets that had been depreciated by heir takeover mania mergers go up. In number of trans actors valued i too minion or More labor costs stabilize unit labor cast to 1977.1.00 and corporate debt goes up in Union of dollars 1960 he by Tim Willons  1 co. My Jim Stanley � co . Felt in own Bank takeover targets there were a Lul of dire predictions that once he new tax Laws took affect merger activity would drop Oit the Board. But that did t happen Sikora said. Taxes Are just one Factor in a  despite the strength of International currencies against the Dollar the number of foreign buyers of . Companies declined to 169 last year from 1 s3 the year before. Foreign Sellers of Domestic Busi Ness declined to 90 during inc year from 147 in 1986. The Stock Market s historic Job Point plunge on oct. 19 stalled several Multi million Dollar transactions As corporate finance officers scrambled to calculate the Post crash Mark values of potential takeover candidates. Right before the crash there were some pretty Large announcements. A week after the crash we saw a number of cancellations Ladias said. Thirty seven proposed mergers valued at j7.7 billion were scuttled Between oct. 19 and dec. 3, Sikora said. During the same period. 622 mergers Worth $35.2 Bil lion were announced and 412 deals Worth s 14.4 billion were completed. The rumbling on Walt Street was enough to dash what would have been two of the year s largest deais.1 Dart group corp s s6.4 billion bid for Dayton Hudson corp. And Ivanhoe partners $6.3 billion offer for Newmont mining corp. Other major deals that Tell through during the year included Revlon group inc s $4.5 billion offer for Gillette co. And a $2.3 billion management Jed lever aged buyout of oaf corp. The lop 10 completed acquisitions of i9s7 Standard Oil co. Of Cleveland acquired by British Petroleum Ltd., which paid $7.6 billion for the 45 percent it did no previously own. Borg Warner corp., a diverse Chi Cago air conditioning refrigeration and Healing conglomerate agreed to a $3.8 billion leveraged buy out transaction enacted by an investment group led by Merrill Lynch capital banners on behalf of a holdings Owens Illinois inc., of told co Ohio acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Rob erts inc. Of new York in a leveraged buy out valued at s3.7 billion. Viacom International inc. Of new York acquired by Boston based nation Al amusements inc. For $3.1 billion. Chesbrough Pond s inc. Of Green wich Conn acquired by dutch conglomerate Unilever .  billion. Celanese corp., a new York Petro chemicals concern acquired by Hoschst a a German phar Marcuta a company for $2.7 billion. Burlington industries int., the Greensboro n.c., textile giant acquired in a $2.2 billion leveraged buy out led by Morgan Stanley croup inc. Ill burling. On management. One Hundred and four hospitals owned by Nashville  Hospi Tal corp of America acquired by he ally Trust  Hospital co. For $2.1 Bil lion. Cadillac Fairview torn of Toronto acquired by Job realty f Orp of Chi Cago for $ 1.97 billion. Stauffer chemical i a. Of was upon. Conn., acquired by British chemical giant Imperial Che Mirak industries pc Tor $1,9 billion. Computer firms upbeat on prospects for 988 by Beatrice Motamed san Francisco up . Computer makers arc optimistic about he prospects for 1988, spurred by a new generation of sophisticated personal computers that Are changing inc Way people approach technology. The Industry last year emerged from the doldrums of 1986, launching a spate of chips computers and software. Several companies including International business machines corp., in 1987 saw their first prof its after months of losses. "1 think companies began coming Back in lie sum Mer of 86, and 87 Bihon Hose gains says Richard a Shaffer editor of he techno logic computer letter in new York. " eighty seven was for most companies a year of the  Many computer makers including Apple computer inc. Of Cupertino California and Compaq computer corp of Houston said they Cipech Industry sales to grow Between 20 percent and 30 percent next year others Are More modest. However most agree thai much of next year s growth will be in personal computers a new stronger and More flexible generation of machines with wide spread applications in business and education. Experts said i987 s most important development was ism s introduction in april of a new family of personal computers the ps-2 line along Wilh the announcement of a new operating system called os-2 that allows the machines to simultaneously run several programs. A close second was Apple which in March launched its macintosh a and macintosh ii whose user Friendly software color and graphics capabilities Are aimed at prying g apart big Blue s hold on business buyers. American Telephone 4 Telegraph co., Uniss corp. And Hewlett Packard co. Also launched aggressively priced personal computers in 1987. The wave of new machines along with advances in semiconductor technology and software have made personal computers an increasingly attractive alternative to Bulky mainframes. The pc has become he focus of the computer business now said John Mccarthy of Forrester re search inc. In Cambridge mass., and thai spells bad limes for All inc Minicomputer and mainframe  among software advances for personal computers last year were improved versions of spreadsheet graphics and word processing programs. Microsoft corp. Of Redmond wash., introduced a new ism compatible version of its Best Selling Excel program and Lotus development corp. Of Cambridge mass., said it would update its widely used spreadsheet called 1-2-3. Microsoft also created the os-2 program for ism which is adding its own enhancements to the operating system. A new generation of computer chips also greatly expanded the reach of personal computers by packing mainframe Power into desktop units. Intel corp. Of Santa Clara Calif stole the spotlight last year with its High powered 80236 and 80386 microprocessors which became the brains of computers produced by ism Compaq computer corp. And others. No i to be outdone Schaunburg.  Motorola inc. Recently introduced the 68020, an improved ver Sion of its Best Selling of Twenty Chip that he com Pany says provides More Power at lower Cost. Sun Micro systems inc. Of Mountain View califor Nia a maker of advanced computer systems called works unions is also seeking to License other Compa Nies to produce its new spare Chip which employs a revolutionary technology that simplifies Complex com Puter architecture. Given these advances analysis Are looking Forward to space age improvements in personal computing including technology that could allow humans to talk to their terminals "1988 might be the year of the  says Bruce Lupatkin senior technology analyst for a Arnbrecht & quist in san Francisco. Every major company is Tak ing a look at  first however companies will have to toe the Bot Lom line. Despite higher profits for some last year saw an unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions in the computer Industry. Some Deal makers including Silicon Valley chips makers advanced Micro devices inc. And National semiconductor corp., have been forced to Lay off thousands of workers in massive restructurings. In fact compared Wilh 1986, 1987 sales and profits were so Good that some worry a repeal performance is impossible. But in the computer Industry which sees years into the future optimism is pan of doing business. John Sculley Apple s chairman and chief executive said he expects a technological revolution in Educa Tion whose challenges Are As great he maintained As those facing the . Space program a generation ago. Prodded by that vision Apple has been aggressively pushing its computers through adult literacy programs and nationwide promotional Tours of places frequented by families such As shopping malls. Steve jobs Apple s founder and now the Luad of a new company next inc., has premised to introduce Early next year a revolutionary new computer Large cd at he nation s universities. The question is Are we preparing our a Surg people for life in the 31st a Colury Sculley Aski d. The curricula in our Public schools Are still largely focused on the needs fan Industrial  we Don i have a moment to in astr he adds. The world is