Business and City in Brief

SUTER SELLS VALVES DIVISION FOR 36m POUNDS

Suter, the industrial conglomerate chaired by David Abell, sold its valves division to Tyco of the US for pounds 36m. The price, including a deferred element of pounds 2m, compares with a book value of pounds 10.3m.

Brian Hoare, finance director, said the cash would be used to eliminate borrowings - pounds 38m at the end of last month. But he intimated Suter was looking for an acquisition.

TOPIC FOR DEBATE

The Stock Exchange confirmed it might enter a commercial alliance to run Topic, the official screen- based company news and shares service. The Exchange said it was in discussions with a 'limited number of organisations' over the plans, thought to include Telekurs, the Swiss group, and Reuters.

WESTMINSTER RUSH

Westminster Health Care Holdings' share offer at 260p a share was 4.8 times subscribed, attracting 22,445 applications for more than 30 million shares with an aggregate value of pounds 79.8m, Barclays de Zoete Wedd said. Applicants for 200-800 shares will receive 200 shares, while those for 3,500 and over will be allocated 10 per cent.

WESTINGHOUSE'S dollars 850m

Westinghouse raised dollars 850m by transferring a large block of commercial-property loans to a new joint venture, 51 per cent-owned by Lehman Brothers, the conglomerate's advisers.

PIRELLI SHEDS 1,160

Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer, will shed 1,160 jobs in the computer, optic fibre and tele-communications divisions in addition to the 6,000 job cuts announced last year.

KUWAIT THREAT TO ACCORD

The Opec production accord was under threat as Kuwait said it would exceed its quota by 400,000bpd following reports that Iran and Nigeria had exceeded output limits.

PEARL SHINES

Pearl, owned by Australian Mutual Provident, lifted net profits from pounds 67.8m to pounds 74.1m in 1992. Premium income rose 28 per cent to pounds 1.3bn.

DOUBTS ABOUT QANTAS

The Australian government said its public offering of shares in Qantas, the national airline, expected to raise about Adollars 2bn, might be postponed until stock market conditions improved.

US INVESTMENT BOOST

Businesses in the US plan to increase investment in new buildings and equipment by 6.6 per cent this year to dollars 582bn, according to a survey by the Commerce Department - the biggest rise in four years.

FALCON SWOOPS

Price Waterhouse, administrators of Maxwell Communication Corporation, said it sold International Learning Systems (Japan), an MCC subsidiary, to Falcon Press Japan for about pounds 5m.

MONTAGU TOPS

Samuel Montagu was top financial adviser in the first quarter with three deals worth pounds 334m, ahead of Morgan Grenfell and Schroders, according to Acquisitions Monthly.

WORLD MARKETS

NEW YORK: The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.54 points at 3,396.48 after recouping earlier losses on a sell-off of drug and drinks shares.

TOKYO: A last-minute rally took the Nikkei average near the 20,000- mark last reached more than a year ago, closing 138.04 up at 19,967.27.

HONG KONG: Recovering early losses, the Hang Seng index ended 3.97 points firmer at 6,285.67.

SYDNEY: Lower-than-expected jobless figures helped the All Ordinaries to 1,665.7, a 10.8-point gain.

BOMBAY: Disappointment over an interest rate cut which failed to materialise sent the index plunging 97.77 points to 2,310.91.

PARIS: Shares were held back by reaction to a speech by prime minister Edouard Balladur which contained no proposals for interest rate cuts. The CAC-40 index edged up 2.9 points to 1,986.86.

FRANKFURT: In thin pre-holiday turnover the DAX index added 5.42 points to 1,655.73.

MILAN: Fiat led stocks sharply higher, with the MIB advancing 2.18 per cent to 1,126.

LONDON: Report, page 27.