Volpe Brown Whelan Co

Prudential Securities said it has acquired Volpe Brown Whelan & Co., among one of the few remaining independent investment banks, as it seeks a piece of the lucrative business of helping technology companies sell stock to the public. Terms of the cash transaction were not disclosed. Prudential, the brokerage arm of Prudential Insurance Co.

Prudential Securities said it has acquired Volpe Brown Whelan & Co., among one of the few remaining independent investment banks, as it seeks a piece of the lucrative business of helping technology companies sell stock to the public. Terms of the cash transaction were not disclosed. Prudential, the brokerage arm of Prudential Insurance Co.

Norwalk, Conn.-based Oxford Health Plans Inc. said more than 700 radiologists, orthopedists and other specialists agreed to treat its patients for a per-case fee, instead of billing for individual visits and treatments. Oxford Health, one of the largest U.S. health maintenance organizations, said it began this new offer to specialists in April.

FileNet Corp. said Tuesday that it plans to lay off an undetermined number of its 1,650 employees and move a Boston-area subsidiary to Orange County to help offset an anticipated $9-million first-quarter loss. Other expenses, including a $2.5-million to $3-million charge related to the subsidiary relocation, are also expected to dampen second-quarter results.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of the biggest makers of generic drugs, said on Sunday that it will acquire TheraTech Inc., which makes drug-delivery products such as skin patches, for about $300 million, expanding its proprietary drug products. Corona, Calif.-based Watson, which has focused on niche markets such as hard-to-make pharmaceuticals, is trying to expand its line of higher-margin proprietary drugs to boost revenue, which was $338 million in 1997.

Cisco Systems Inc. on Monday rebounded from early declines as investors concluded that rising inventory didn't signal deeper problems at the world's biggest maker of computer networking equipment. Cisco shares rose 94 cents to close at $77.50 in Nasdaq trading. The San Jose-based networking company's stock fell 7.4% Friday and dropped further during much of Monday before reversing direction amid a flurry of positive recommendations.

Zapata Corp., a onetime oil driller trying to break into the world of cyberspace, said Thursday it was seeking to buy Excite Inc., a leading Internet company that's five times its size. The offer, worth $1.5 billion in newly issued Zapata stock, was immediately rejected by Redwood City-based Excite and dismissed on Wall Street as unlikely if not impossible.

Computer-game maker Interplay Entertainment Corp. is sharply scaling back the size of its initial public stock offering. The Irvine-based company, which said in March that it hoped to raise about $72 million in a public stock sale, said it now plans to raise $27 million, according to documents filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it expects to sell 5 million shares of common stock, down from an original 6.25 million.

Yahoo Inc. said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings rose, topping expectations as the No. 1 Internet directory boosted revenue from advertising and electronic commerce. Net income climbed to $4.29 million, or 8 cents a diluted share, contrasted with a pro forma loss of $740,000, or 2 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue tripled to $30.2 million, from pro forma revenue of $10.1 million.

Yahoo Inc., the Internet darling whose stock recently has rocketed, reported unexpectedly strong quarterly results on Wednesday as millions more people visited its popular Web site. The Santa Clara-based company also announced a 2-for-1 stock split and disclosed that Softbank Holdings Inc. of Japan had paid $250 million to boost its stake in the company to 31%. Yahoo said it lost $36 million, or 81 cents per diluted share, in the three months ended June 30. That was wider than the loss of $21.

Yahoo Inc. beat analysts' expectations again, reporting strong third-quarter earnings Wednesday amid soaring traffic to its popular Web site. The No. 1 Internet directory earned $16.6 million, or 15 cents a share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. had expected 9 cents a share. In the same quarter a year before, net income was just $681,000, or 1 cent a share. Revenue was $53.6 million, nearly triple sales of $18.1 million for the same quarter in 1997.