Quaker Oats

Anderson, Clayton & Co., a Houston food company, has alleged in a federal lawsuit that two New York investment banking firms and Quaker Oats used confidential information to devise a plan to "bust up" the company. Anderson, Clayton, the maker of Gaines dog food, Seven Seas salad dressing and Chiffon margarine, is fighting a $655-million takeover announced last week by two investment firms, Bear, Stearns & Co. and Gruss & Co.

Who is that stately, white-haired gentleman dressed in black garb and hat who smiles from all those red and blue Quaker Oats boxes? Many believe it's William Penn, an English Quaker leader who founded Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia. Wrong, says Quaker Oats Co. "Occasionally, someone will make that mistake," said company spokesman Ron Bottrell. But, "there's no indication that he was based on a historical figure. He is simply known as the Quaker man."

Quaker Oats Co. said Wednesday that it will acquire Snapple Beverage Corp. for $1.7 billion in cash, creating the nation's third-largest nonalcoholic beverage company and giving it a commanding market share lead in the fast-growing, so-called New Age drinks segment. Some analysts said the deal would be good for Snapple and Quaker, both of which have been under pressure in recent months.

Quaker Oats (ticker symbol: OAT) stock jumped 9% to an all-time high Friday after a failed buyout attempt by PepsiCo (PEP) set the stage for an expected bidding war for Quaker and its blockbuster product, Gatorade. Industry analysts said another bid is possible by Pepsi, despite having its $13.7-billion offer rejected as insufficient by Robert Morrison, head of the Chicago-based food and drinks maker. A source familiar with the discussions said Quaker turned down the bid Thursday.

Lawman Cecil Hicks thinks his bars are too small. That is, his granola bars. Hicks, Orange County's District Attorney, filed a lawsuit Friday accusing the Quaker Oats Co. of misrepresenting the size of its Quaker Chewy Granola Bars and Granola Dipps. According to a Superior Court lawsuit, the company "made untrue or misleading statements" by selling the grainy goodies in packages showing bars "substantially larger than the actual bar found inside the box."

Anderson, Clayton & Co, a Houston food products company, said Friday that its board rejected a $655-million takeover offer from two New York investment banking firms at a hastily called board meeting Thursday. Anderson, Clayton directors, however, authorized its management to meet with representatives of the investment firms Bear, Stearns & Co. and Gruss & Co.

PepsiCo Inc. got the green light Wednesday to buy Quaker Oats Co. and its top-selling Gatorade brand for about $14 billion after the Federal Trade Commission deadlocked over whether the new company would harm competition in the sports drink market. FTC commissioners voted 2 to 2 on going to court to block Pepsi's purchase, one vote short of the majority needed to file suit. A unanimous decision was then taken to close the investigation of the deal, an agency statement said.

Walnut Creek-based Longs Drug Stores voluntarily recalled one batch of Lemon-Lime Gatorade from its 198 stores in California, Hawaii, Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon after a contaminated bottle of the beverage made a Santa Clara firefighter violently ill. State health officials, who discovered urine in the bottle in tests Friday, are conducting further tests to determine if the bottle also contained pesticides. Those tests are expected to be completed Monday.

The Food and Drug Administration decided Tuesday to let that morning box of oatmeal advertise that it's heart-healthy. Under the new regulation, companies can claim that eating foods made from rolled oats, oat bran and oat flour that contain enough soluble fiber may reduce the risk of heart disease--as long as they're part of a low-fat diet. The regulation, effective immediately, was prompted by a request from Quaker Oats, the nation's leading maker of oatmeal.