Mergers

Sync Research Inc. completed its acquisition of privately held TyLink Corp. of Norton, Mass., for 2.78 million shares of stock worth about $40 million, and $4 million cash. Sync Research, which provides computer networking software for customers of International Business Machines Corp.'s networks, said it will report combined financial results for the quarter ending Sept. 30, although the companies operated separately until last Thursday. TyLink develops high-speed communications products.

AccuStaff Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Career Horizons Inc. in a deal valued at $1 billion that would create the nation's fourth-largest employment company, the firms said Monday. The acquisition would be AccuStaff's 34th in the last two years and its biggest ever. Career Horizons' emphasis on finding employees for computer, health-care and financial services would complement AccuStaff's strengths in telemarketing, clerical, law and accounting, analysts said.

WorldCom Inc. has become a major player in the telecommunications business by acquiring more than 40 companies since it was founded in 1983. The following are some highlights: * December 1992: WorldCom Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers engineers the acquisition of Advanced Telecommunications Corp. for $720 million, attracting attention as an aggressive new entrant in a long-distance phone business populated by a few giant companies and hundreds of bit players.

What do you make of a bearded, Canadian-born, cigar-smoking Mississippi businessman who wears blue jeans and cowboy boots to work, decorates his sixth-floor office in Southwestern adobe-style and has a yacht docked in Florida called Aquasition? What do you make, that is, of Bernard Ebbers? A lot of people are asking that question of the enigmatic chief executive of WorldCom since he announced Monday that he will spend $12.

Texas Tech Coach Spike Dykes, son of a cotton ginner, was born in Lubbock. He watched oil make the town rich and rocker Buddy Holly make it famous. At 57, he has seen passing fads, the Edsel come and go, the Cold War, twisters, John David Crow. So, when his Red Raiders were thrown into the teeth of the new Big 12 conference, a mega-merger of the Big Eight and half of the defunct Southwest, Dykes tried to be philosophical.

After 3 1/2 decades that included stellar growth, costly scandals, deteriorating profits and then signs of a comeback, Teledyne Inc. is about to slip quietly into the history books. Stockholders today are voting on Teledyne's merger with stainless steel maker Allegheny Ludlum Corp. in a stock deal valued at $2.2 billion, and approval is expected. The deal should close quickly thereafter, with Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Ludlum renaming itself Allegheny Teledyne Inc.

Time Warner Signs Consent Order on Turner: Time Warner Inc. said it signed the order with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission, clearing the way for completion of its $6.7-billion acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System Inc. The order requires approval from the five commissioners of the FTC, which could come soon, officials said.

The latest effort to torpedo the Newport Harbor-Laguna Art Museum merger has failed, but merger opponents say the fight still isn't over. A referendum to reverse the merger was defeated narrowly 823 to 796 in a vote by the general membership of the consolidated Orange County Museum of Art, according to Charles D. Martin, OCMA president.