Mergers & IPO's: 01/21/2005 Financial activity is a bellwether of both hiring and right-sizing. The Mergers & Acquisitions / IPO Report takes a weekly look from both perspectives. Net News: 01/20/2005 A summary of weekly news about the career sites, search engines and other tools that affect your online recruiting activities. Real Tools: 01/19/2005 Learn about products and services that can make you a more effective recruiter. Recruiting News: 01/18/2005 A summary of recruitment-centric news bites gleaned from a broad range of news sources, on and off the Web. Outplacement: 01/17/2005 A summary of employers that have announced downsizing initiatives over the past week.

M & As / Mergers & Acquisitions

M & A - Computer Services
Acquirer/Buyer: Network Security Technologies, Inc. (Herndon, VA)
Company: MCI, Inc. (Ashburn, VA) Network Security Technologies (NetSec) has agreed to be acquired by MCI for $ 105 million. The acquisition by the telecommunications company is expected to strengthen MCI's position in the growing network security sector of the telecom industry. Since emerging from bankruptcy protection last spring, MCI has moved to increase its base of corporate customers, network security is a hot button issue in that market.
01/21/05

M & A - Computer Software
Acquirer/Buyer: Selectica, Inc. (San Jose, CA)
Company: Trilogy, Inc. (Austin, TX) Trilogy Systems, an Austin-based provider of sales and purchasing software, is doing some buying of its own. The company has agreed to pay $ 131 million for Silicon Valley's Selectica, which makes software that drives the sales process. The acquisition is predicated on Selectica completing an acquisition itself; the company announced plans to buy I-Many's business management business last month.
01/21/05

M & A - Energy & Utilities
Acquirer/Buyer: Meridian Energy Corp. (Calgary, Alberta)
Company: True Energy Inc. (Calgary, Alberta) A pair of Canadian energy companies are coming together in a friendly merger. True Energy will acquire Meridian Energy for up to $ 30 million (Canadian) and stock. Combined production of the two oil companies would be about 9,200 barrels per day.
01/21/05

M & A - Healthcare
Acquirer/Buyer: Cedara Software (Mississauga, Ontario)
Company: Merge Technologies (West Allis, WI) Merge Technologies turns out to be an apt name on several levels for a Milwaukee-area provider of healthcare software. The company has agreed to a deal valued at about $ 393 million to acquire suburban Toronto's Cedara Software. Cedara makes medical imaging software that Merge Technologies will use to bolster its offerings to medical equipment manufacturers that wish to use its technology. Merge has primarily served hospitals and medical clinics.
01/21/05

M & A - Industrial Manufacturing
Acquirer/Buyer: MeadWestvaco Corporation (Stamford, CT)
Company: Cerberus Capital Management (New York, NY) A New York investment firm will pay $ 2.3 billion to acquire the papers business of MeadWestvaco. Cerberus Capital Management will get one of MeadWestvaco's two largest divisions; the other is packaging, which will now become the company's primary business. The deal also includes forest land and mills in Chillicothe, Ohio, Escanaba, Michigan, Luke, Maryland, Rumford, Maine and Wickliffe, Kentucky.
01/21/05

M & A - Media
Acquirer/Buyer: UnitedGlobalCom, Inc. (Denver, CO)
Company: Liberty Media Corporation (Englewood, CO) The cables may run and the pictures my air in other countries, but the financial strings are being decided in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Liberty Media and UnitedGlobalCom, a pair of media companies that are both largely owned by cable magnate John Malone, will merge in a $ 3.5 billion deal. Malone already owns 53 percent of United GlobalCom and said last year that he planned to consolidate it within his Liberty Media company. UGC opens cable systems in over a dozen countries around the world.
01/21/05

M & A - Pharmaceuticals
Acquirer/Buyer: JRH Biosciences (Lenexa, KS)
Company: Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (St. Louis, MO) Sigma-Aldrich, a leading supplier of chemicals used by research laboratories, is acquiring a specialty producer. The St. Louis-based company will pay $ 370 million for JRH Biosciences, a division of Australia's CSL, which makes cell culture and sera products that are used in producing pharmaceuticals. CSL, the world's largest maker of blood plasma products, says it will use the proceeds of the sale to increase research or increase value for investors.
01/21/05

M & A - Real Estate
Acquirer/Buyer: Fountains Continuum of Care (Tucson, AZ)
Company: Sunrise Senior Living (McLean, VA) Sunrise Senior Living, the largest U.S. operator of senior living centers will get a bit larger after the $ 508 million purchase of Fountains Continuum of Care. The Fountains, based in Tucson, Arizona, has 19 communities in 15 states and the capacity to house about 5,000 individuals. A capital partner will acquire a stake in the real estate associated with the communities and operate them as part of a joint venture.
01/21/05