Companies

The Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations that would allow companies to deduct immediately many of the expenses involved in making acquisitions and fighting takeovers, reversing three decades of policy. The regulations are a victory for companies such as United Technologies Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Corp. and Coca-Cola Co., and for members of a 27-company coalition lobbying for the move.

Re "Apple execs grilled over tax strategy," Business, May 22 Unbelievable, stunning, incredible that members of Congress have the audacity to bring the chief executive of one of the most successful companies this country has ever seen to grill him on Apple Inc.'s tax strategy (which, by the way, is perfectly legal) so they can try to wring more money out of him. Apple paid $6 billion in taxes last year; isn't that enough? Forcing Chief Executive Tim Cook to respond to legislators who have been on the public dole much of their lives and haven't done much in the way of intellectual innovation (or even fixing this country economically)

Decades ago, many workers spent their whole lives at the same job, retiring with a full pension, and maybe even a gold watch from their boss. Now, almost no one works at the same place for life, and there's much less loyalty between employers and employees. But these changes didn't happen overnight. Although the recession accelerated them, the workplace began changing decades ago, experts say. In the 1970s, companies had lifetime employment models and long-term plans for developing talent internally and honing good employees for life.

Although more than half of Orange County's 50 largest public companies suffered drops in their total market value over the past calendar quarter, the deepest declines were recorded by those in high-tech and health-care related fields, where some stock values slid as much as 47% during the three-month period. Overall, Orange County's top 50 publicly held companies decreased in value by 7%, contrasted with a decline of 1% for the Dow Jones Industrial index during the three months ended Sept. 30.

Bio Physics International Inc. said it agreed to acquire two medical equipment research companies from privately held Tronomed Inc. of Irvine for $610,000 in cash and stock. Bio Physics, which is based in Salt Lake City but has operations in Newport Beach, said it expects to complete the acquisition of New Technology for Medicine Inc. and Sentron International Inc. within 30 days.

The Communications Workers of America, which represents 262,000 communications workers nationwide, is negotiating at 48 tables around the country with representatives of Southwestern Bell, Nynex, Ameritech, US West, Bell Atlantic and Bell South. Pacific Telesis announced an agreement with the union Monday.

Computer Automation, suffering from continuing losses and struggling to find a financial backer, has tentatively agreed to merge with Everett/Charles Test Equipment of Pomona, according to Jerry Hudspeth, chairman and president of Everett/Charles. The pending move could end months of financial uncertainty for Computer Automation, a once high-flying electronics company that faltered from a series of missteps and amassed losses totaling more than $20 million in three years.

Altria Group Inc., the tobacco company that also controls Kraft Foods Inc., is considering separating into two or three companies, its chairman told shareholders. Chairman and Chief Executive Louis C. Camilleri said "the precise timing and chronology are uncertain, and continuing improvement in the entire litigation environment is a prerequisite to such action by the board of directors."

An investor group that owns three San Diego medical technology companies on Monday consolidated their holdings into a new company called Diatek Corp, according to Phil Faris, CEO of the new company. Diatek Inc., Neurometrics and Diatek Medical Technology (formerly Dade Medical) will function as wholly owned subsidiaries of the new company. Faris said the three companies had consolidated sales of $6.7 million for the fiscal year ended April 30, with the bulk coming from Diatek Inc.

The Dutch firm Teleplan International N.V. has purchased ElectroService Laboratories in Ventura and two of its affiliates in Lincoln, Calif., and Toronto, Canada. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Teleplan is a public company traded on the Frankfurt, Germany, exchange. All three of the purchased companies will continue to be managed by John Morgan, ElectroService's president.