Acquisitions

In London this fall, art critics piled on the superlatives. In New York this winter, crowds braved the cold to line up outside Paula Cooper Gallery and get a look. Now Angelenos will have their chance to see Christian Marclay's video-art hit "The Clock," which the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has just purchased as part of an annual fundraising and collecting event. Through this event, known as Collectors Committee Weekend, LACMA acquired eight artworks for roughly $2.7 million.

Los Angeles stock brokerage Crowell, Weedon & Co. on Wednesday said it was acquired by a larger rival, though terms were not released. Chief Executive Andrew Crowell said his firm was bought by D.A. Davidson & Co. The deal would further strengthen the firms, Crowell said. Combined, they will hold $43.5 billion in client assets, with Crowell Weedon bringing in $9 billion of that. Discussions of a combination began about three years ago, Crowell said, but really took off in the last year and a half.

Boys Markets--the 54-store Los Angeles supermarket chain built on catering to Southern California's burgeoning minority communities--said Tuesday that it has received a $130.7-million takeover offer, reportedly from a wealthy Mexican family. The announcement comes as the Los Angeles supermarket industry is being shaken by a round of takeovers and mergers.

The L.A. County Museum of Art has signaled its commitment to African art by paying $1 million for a 3-foot-high "Gwan" sculpture of a mother and infant, believed to help ensure healthy childbirth by the Bamana peoples of Mali. "It's one of the oldest surviving wood sculptures of Africa and probably the oldest Gwan figure in existence," said Polly Nooter Roberts, a curator of African art at LACMA and professor at UCLA. According to carbon dating, the piece was made between 1432 and 1644, earlier than Gwan figures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The consolidation of the biotechnology industry accelerated Monday when Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp. of San Diego agreed to buy Biogen Inc. for $6.4 billion in stock. Wall Street gave the proposed deal a chilly reception, with both companies' shares tumbling 5%. Some analysts wondered whether Idec, known for cancer drugs, and Biogen, with a popular multiple sclerosis drug, would make a good match.

Brookfield Properties Corp., owner of the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan, and buyout firm Blackstone Group agreed to acquire Trizec Properties Inc. for $4.8 billion plus the assumption of $4.1 billion in debt, the second-largest takeover of a real estate investment trust. Trizec, whose chairman is Canadian real estate mogul Peter Munk, would almost triple Toronto-based Brookfield's U.S.

In the end, history's largest banking takeover is coming down to -- what else? -- money. A consortium of three banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland is all but certain to win the battle to buy ABN Amro Holding in a deal worth about $100 billion. ABN Amro's rival suitor, Barclays, bowed out Friday, acknowledging that only a tiny fraction of shareholders had tendered their shares to its offer, which was worth about 11% less.

Aiming to strengthen its presence in the growing Southern California market, UnionBanCal Corp., the parent of Union Bank of California, announced plans Friday to acquire Brea-based Jackson Federal Bank for $305 million. Jackson Federal, with $1.9 billion in assets, has 14 branches in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, including L.A., Glendale, Santa Monica and Fullerton.

The Los Angeles-based maker of Skippy dog food and Petuna cat food said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its pet food business to foods giant H. J. Heinz for an undisclosed sum. California Home Brands Holdings, a privately held firm based in Terminal Island, said the sale would include pet food plants in Long Beach, Wilmington, San Leandro and Etiwanda, Calif., and Camp Hill, Pa. The plants employ about 550 people.

Two Rodeo, a well-known Beverly Hills shopping center that houses some of the world's biggest names in luxury goods, has been bought by Irish investors for $275 million. Sloane Capital's purchase of the complex at Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard demonstrates how choice real estate is still in demand even though the recent credit crunch related to sub-prime home loans is sending jitters through the financial and residential real estate markets. Tiffany & Co.

Walt Disney Co. has begun the process of laying off about 150 people who work at the company's movie studio. Analysts said that the layoffs, which were confirmed by the Burbank-based company Wednesday, are probably related to redundancies created by Disney's recent acquisitions of Marvel Entertainment in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012. “I am sure there is some overlap from those acquisitions,” said Disney analyst Harold Vogel, president of Vogel Capital Management. PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments The cuts, which are expected to affect the studio's marketing and home entertainment divisions and possibly other areas, are believed to be the result of an internal corporate review initiated by Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger.

The Pittsburgh Penguins took most of the fun out of speculation leading up to Wednesday's noon Pacific trade deadline when they pulled off major deals last week for veteran wingers Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla and defenseman Douglas Murray. Their acquisition of Iginla was bizarre. Several major media outlets, led by Canada's TSN, reported he had been sent to Boston and it was a done deal. Except it wasn't. Iginla, who waived his no-move clause, decided he preferred Pittsburgh and went there for two prospects and a first-round draft pick.

Hewlett-Packard  Co. shareholders voted in favor of the current board at an annual meeting Wednesday, shrugging off a campaign by some investors to ignite a protest over a series of troubled acquisitions. HP announced that all 11 directors received at least 50% of the vote in their favor. The results of the vote were announced at the end of HP's annual shareholder meeting, held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. The 90-minute meeting included an extensive presentation by Chief Executive Meg Whitman, who outlined the strides she believes have been made in turning around the Silicon Valley icon.

The trustees of L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art say they have decided not to turn over the keys to their financially ailing institution to others - notably the Los Angeles County Museum of Art - and will instead raise the money needed to keep the downtown museum independent. The board issued a three-sentence statement Tuesday afternoon headlined "MOCA Trustees Committed to Independence. " It gave no specifics - and did not refer directly to the lone option that has become public: an offer by LACMA and its director, Michael Govan, to acquire MOCA and raise $100 million as part of the takeover, while keeping the MOCA name and continuing to operate its two downtown buildings.

Despite the recent offer from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to acquire the cash-strapped Museum of Contemporary Art, the contemporary museum's board of trustees says that its members agree that "the best future for MOCA would be as an independent institution. " MOCA leaders had declined any comment since the offer became public this month. But the board met Friday and a museum spokesperson issued the following statement Tuesday: “The Board is in agreement that the best future for MOCA would be as an independent institution.

News Corp.'s soon-to-be publishing company will begin life with no debt and about $2.6 billion in cash -- illustrating the parent company's attempt to provide the new entity with solid financials and money for acquisitions. The new company, which will carry the News Corp. name when it is inaugurated this summer, will include the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, the New York Post, the Times of London, HarperCollins book publishing and an educational materials division called Amplify.

One of Orange County's pioneer developers of planned communities, the Mission Viejo Co., will be sold to J.F. Shea Co., an expanding Southern California building firm, it was announced Friday. The deal is expected to fetch more than $400 million, although terms were not disclosed by Philip Morris Cos. Inc., which has owned the Mission Viejo Co. since 1972. Shea will acquire about 900 acres of undeveloped land in Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo, and 3,600 acres in Colorado.

Magazine publisher Petersen Cos., whose titles include Motor Trend, Teen and Guns & Ammo, said Monday it is in talks to be acquired by British media company Emap, reportedly for $1.2 billion. Petersen sells 126 special-interest magazines that focus not only on autos and youth but also on outdoors, photography and sports. It also has an acquisition of its own pending that would increase its publications to 132.

Comcast Corp. is buying out General Electric Co.'s stake in entertainment company NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion, and will take full control of a media conglomerate that includes the NBC network, Universal Studios theme parks, Universal Pictures film studio and cable channels USA Network, Bravo and MSNBC. The purchase comes two years after the Philadelphia cable TV operator acquired a 51% interest in the media company, leaving GE with a 49% stake. Comcast had an option to buy more of GE's interest beginning in July 2014.

With spring training starting this week, it's time to look at some of the most intriguing story lines across Major League Baseball. After discussing the American League on Monday, writers from the Tribune Co. turn their attention to the National League. Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment of your own. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times No team in baseball history spent more money in less time than the Dodgers, who invested about a bazillion dollars during the last seven months to compile a roster that will feature All-Stars at six positions.