Ims International

Business information giant Dun & Bradstreet Corp. said Sunday it has agreed to buy IMS International, a fast-growing health care and pharmaceuticals information firm, in exchange for about $1.77 billion in Dun & Bradstreet stock. The agreement, which culminates almost a decade of informal discussions between the two companies, would give Dun & Bradstreet long-sought entry into the health care information business.

A state appeals court has upheld a jury verdict awarding an investor group 20% of the stock of the computer franchise giant ComputerLand in a case that started with a $250,000 loan. The 80-page ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal, issued late Thursday, included harsh words for the management as well as for the legal arguments of ComputerLand founder William Millard, who has been driven from control of the Oakland-based company.

A state appeals court has upheld a jury verdict awarding an investor group 20% of the stock of the computer franchise giant ComputerLand in a case that started with a $250,000 loan. The 80-page ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal, issued late Thursday, included harsh words for the management as well as for the legal arguments of ComputerLand founder William Millard, who has been driven from control of the Oakland-based company.

Business information giant Dun & Bradstreet Corp. said Sunday it has agreed to buy IMS International, a fast-growing health care and pharmaceuticals information firm, in exchange for about $1.77 billion in Dun & Bradstreet stock. The agreement, which culminates almost a decade of informal discussions between the two companies, would give Dun & Bradstreet long-sought entry into the health care information business.

Charles and Maurice Saatchi, the brothers who created the world's biggest advertising agency and "sold" Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to British voters, will step down as joint chief executives, the company said today. London-based Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC said Robert Louis-Dreyfus, 43, will take over as sole chief executive of the agency as of Jan. 1.

A rush of U.S. merger activity in the first months of 1988 will shatter records if it keeps up. So far in 1988 more than $32 billion worth of mergers have been completed, according to IDD Information Services. Billions of dollars more have been proposed. For the record year of 1986, there were $220 billion worth of U.S. mergers completed. Experts say that if deals keep entering the pipeline as fast as they have been so far this year, the record will easily be toppled.

Two key directors of the troubled advertising and consulting giant Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC resigned Friday, the company said. Roy Warman and Terry Bannister served as joint chief operating officers of Saatchi's communications division with responsibility for worldwide advertising operations. Saatchi's deputy chairman Jeremy Sinclair was named to replace the men.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp. announced Sunday that it was selling its airline guides business for $750 million cash to a company formed by British publisher Robert Maxwell, and had given Maxwell an option to purchase its travel agency business. The business publishing and market research company, which had announced in July that it was seeking a buyer for its Official Airline Guides and Thomas Cook Travel USA units, said it should realize a $450-million after-tax gain from the deal.

Stock prices turned in a weak performance on Monday amid growing uncertainty about what the future holds for the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials, which fell 13.09 on Friday, was off another 14.76 to 1,895.72. Declining issues outnumbered advances by 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 168.85 million shares, up slightly from 161.31 million on Friday. Traders said investors are hoping that this week's economic data, including the closely watched U.S.

In a symbolic vote that has little practical effect, the San Diego City Council on Monday once again urged the municipal retirement board to divest itself of millions of dollars of investments in companies doing business in South Africa. The council voted, 6-2, for divestiture, although retirement board members repeated Monday that, for financial reasons, they will ignore the request and keep their investments in companies with operations in South Africa.

The two hermitic brothers who created the world's largest advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi PLC, said Thursday that they will step down at the end of the year as joint chief executives of the troubled ad firm. Replacing Charles and Maurice Saatchi as chief executive of the London-based advertising and consulting firm is Robert Louis-Dreyfus, 43, who has been chairman of IMS International, one of the world's largest market research firms.

Some of the bigger yachts leaving Point Loma today for the 1,100-mile pilgrimage to Manzanillo, Mexico, will be run by professional yachtsmen--sometimes called "rock stars" or Dennis Conners. Many of these boats will use computers, sea-temperature instruments and extravagant weather devices. But some of the smaller boats, such as the 41-foot Sitzmark, will be run with more simple methods. "All of that stuff is pretty theoretical," said Ward Hinckley, Sitzmark's skipper.