Amp Inc

AMP Inc., the world's biggest maker of electronic connectors, plans to close three U.S. plants and cut 3,500 jobs, or 7.5% of its work force, to reduce costs as declining Asian sales hurt profit. AMP, which produces devices used in electronics ranging from microwave ovens to missiles, said it will take charges this year as it closes two facilities in Loganville, Pa., and a plant in Kernersville, N.C. The job cuts will come through early retirement, attrition and firings.

The conglomerate AlliedSignal Inc. on Tuesday launched a hostile $9.8-billion takeover bid for AMP Inc., a leading supplier of electrical components that has been spiraling downward for several quarters. AlliedSignal's unfriendly bid, a common strategy in the merger mania of the 1980s, is a seldom-used tactic these days and is not likely to portend a new wave of hostile actions, some experts said.

AMP Inc. on Friday urged shareholders to spurn a $9.8-billion buyout offer from AlliedSignal Inc., saying that it's too low and that the world's biggest maker of electrical connectors doesn't fit with AlliedSignal's business. As part of its plan to fight the takeover, AMP named Robert Ripp, its 57-year-old executive vice president of global businesses, chairman and chief executive. Ripp, who is in charge of the company's plan to buoy its shares by closing five plants and cutting 7.

AlliedSignal Inc. on Monday moved forward with a $10-billion hostile bid for AMP Inc., saying it would immediately acquire an 18% stake in the maker of electrical connectors. "We're putting our money where our mouth is," a spokesman for AlliedSignal said after the company announced it will spend $1.8 billion in cash to buy 40 million shares of AMP at $44.50 per share. AlliedSignal, which is based in Morris Township, N.J., previously had owned only 100 shares of AMP. Harrisburg, Pa.

Aerospace, automotive and engineering products maker Allied Signal Inc. said that if Pennsylvania adopts legislation to block the company's takeover strategy, it will not pursue its tender offer for 9% of AMP Inc.'s shares. AMP, an electrical device maker based in Harrisburg, Pa., is pushing a bill in its home state that would block a key element of Morris Township, N.J.

AMP Inc. said it plans to buy back 30 million shares at $55 each in an effort to fend off AlliedSignal Inc.'s $9.8-billion hostile offer for the world's largest maker of electronic connectors. The $1.65-billion offer for 14% of its shares outstanding is expected to begin next week. The per-share price is 24% higher than AlliedSignal's offer of $44.50 made Aug. 4 and 92% higher than its share price before the AlliedSignal offer. Harrisburg, Pa.

AlliedSignal Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Lawrence Bossidy said a Pennsylvania judge's decision won't delay an AMP Inc. shareholder vote on AlliedSignal's $9.8-billion hostile bid for the world's largest maker of electronic connectors. U.S. District Judge James Giles in Philadelphia ruled that AMP can use its so-called poison-pill defense to fend off AlliedSignal's bid. He also said AlliedSignal's attempt to get shareholders to consent to its takeover bid was improper.

AlliedSignal Inc. pressed forward with its $9.8-billion takeover bid for AMP Inc., the world's largest maker of electrical connectors, despite a judge's ruling against key parts of the hostile offer. Meanwhile, AMP began a buyback for as much as 30 million shares at $55 each, one of the steps taken to ward off a takeover by the maker of aerospace products and auto parts. Morris Township, N.J.-based AlliedSignal said it would buy 20 million shares, or about 14%, of AMP for $890 million, or $44.

In the latest in a series of legal setbacks for AlliedSignal Inc.'s $10-billion hostile bid for AMP Inc., an appellate court refused to overturn a ruling that prevents AlliedSignal from holding a proxy battle for the leading maker of electrical connection devices. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals denied AlliedSignal's request for emergency relief from an injunction barring the proxy battle. Last month, an injunction was handed down in U.S.