Honeywell Inc

Edson Spencer, who as head of Honeywell Inc. first battled IBM's dominance of the computer market in the 1980s, then gave in and focused his company on automation and aerospace technology, has died. He was 85. He died Sunday at his home in Wayzata, Minn., after battling progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative brain disease, his family said. In his 34-year career at Honeywell — known as Honeywell International Inc. since its acquisition in 1999 by AlliedSignal Inc. — Spencer rose from an aeronautical engineer to the company's chief executive from 1974 to 1987.

Honeywell Inc. has agreed in principle to sell its Electro-Optics Division to Loral Corp. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Honeywell's Electro-Optics Division, which has its headquarters in Lexington, Mass., employs about 1,200 people. It specializes in the design and manufacture of infrared imaging components for military markets.

Under a federal program to transform government facilities into models of energy efficiency, Honeywell International Inc. came calling on Army commanders here with a deal to replace the base's decades-old steam power plant. The company proposed installing millions of dollars in new heating equipment and hooking the base to the local power grid -- all free in exchange for the company getting the bulk of future energy savings. It was precisely the kind of deal that politicians and bureaucrats in Washington were pushing at facilities across the country -- modernizing aging machinery without the government spending any money of its own. But today, the Ft. Richardson deal, one of the largest among hundreds of similar contracts, has sunk into a morass of accounting disputes and allegations of misconduct.

Honeywell Chairman to Have Heart Surgery: James Renier, chairman and chief executive of Honeywell Inc., is to undergo heart bypass surgery today, the company said. Renier, 62, has been treated over the last 11 years for a heart ailment, and the non-emergency bypass surgery is part of that treatment, the company said. At the request of Renier and his doctor, Honeywell spokesman Kevin Whalen did not elaborate on the nature of Renier's ailment.

Honeywell to Acquire Duracraft: Honeywell Inc. agreed to buy the nation's biggest maker of fans and heaters for $283 million to widen its line of home climate-control products and boost foreign sales. Southborough, Mass.-based Duracraft Corp. sells more than 60 types of fans and heaters, plus humidifiers and air cleaners. The company will become part of Minneapolis-based Honeywell's home and building controls unit.

Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich took administrative action against Honeywell Inc., ruling that the firm discriminated against women in its hiring and promotion practices in the 1970s. Ruling on a case that was brought by Labor Department investigators in 1977, Reich said he had determined that Honeywell discriminated against thousands of women at offices, warehouses and factories around its Minneapolis-St. Paul base.

HCA Inc.'s third-quarter profit rose 47% as the biggest U.S. hospital chain attracted more patients and raised the prices it charges managed-care insurers. Net income rose to $256 million, or 48 cents a share, from $174 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Revenue rose 8.4% to $4.44 billion. Some investors were disappointed that profit only matched analysts' estimates, sending HCA's shares down 5.7%.

Honeywell International Inc. will consolidate operations into four units, as Chief Executive Lawrence Bossidy moves to reduce costs after General Electric Co.'s planned purchase of the company collapsed. Chief Operating Officer Giannantonio Ferrari will retire immediately, spokesman Tom Crane said. Estimates weren't available about how much will be saved by combining the eight divisions into aerospace, automation and controls, specialty materials, and transportation and power units, Crane said.

Through their different political, economic and legal lenses, U.S. and European antitrust regulators occasionally see the risks and rewards of mergers very differently. Nowhere is that difference more visible than in the proposed linking of General Electric Co. and Honeywell Inc.

Honeywell International Corp. on Monday reaffirmed its full commitment to its troubled deal with General Electric Co., despite objections by European Union regulators with competition concerns about the $41-billion merger. Honeywell's board of directors "expects that GE will do everything possible to secure regulatory approval for the transaction," the company said in a statement after the board of directors met at the company's Morris Township, N.J., headquarters.

General Electric's pending $54-billion takeover of fellow Dow Jones industrial average component Honeywell will present the keepers of the Dow index with a slot to fill. Changes in the 30-stock Dow are relatively rare, because Dow Jones & Co. emphasizes the index's long history (dating back to 1896) and continuity. But like the Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow has gained more tech members in recent years.

General Electric Co., moving with lightning speed, sealed a deal Saturday to buy aircraft electronics giant Honeywell International Inc., sources familiar with the situation said. It was not immediately clear how much Fairfield, Conn.-based GE had agreed to pay. United Technologies Corp. had offered about $40 billion in stock for Honeywell before its merger talks broke down Friday after GE expressed interest. GE and Honeywell could not be reached immediately for comment.

General Electric Co. proposed acquiring Honeywell International Inc. on Friday just as Honeywell's board of directors was considering a $36-billion takeover offer from United Technologies Corp., people familiar with the matter said. The last-minute GE proposal torpedoed the talks between United Technologies and Honeywell. United Technologies said Friday it had ended its merger talks with Honeywell and Honeywell later said it was considering alternative proposals. Fairfield, Conn.

Honeywell Inc. said Monday that it plans to eliminate an additional 6,000 jobs worldwide within the next year to cut costs after a weaker-than-expected second quarter. The manufacturing giant also said it would merge its polymers and specialty chemicals businesses and close a semiconductor chip packaging plant in California to streamline underperforming units.