South Korea's Daewoo Electronics Co said that it plans to invest $200 million in building a factory in Morocco to make colour television sets and key television components. The project is part of the company's $500 million investment plan in the North African country. The complex would be located in Casablanca and will be capable of making one million television sets per year, two million colour picture tubes and four million units of television components. About 60 per cent of output from the plant, due to open early next year, will be exported to Europe and the remainder will be sold in Morocco and neighbouring countries. The complex is expected to post annual sales of $150 million next year and over $300 million in 2000.

Merrill Lynch opens first branch of Japan chain: Merrill Lynch and Co of the United States opened the first office of its domestic Japanese brokerage chain on Wednesday in the Winter Olympics host city of Nagano, the securities housesaid. The branch is the first of a planned 33-office chain to be run by Merrill's new unit, Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co.The new company was founded out of the remnants of failed Yamaichi Securities and has employed about 2,000 former staffers of the Japanese brokerage. Merrill Lynch will be opening most of the offices throughout July. A grand opening is scheduled for July 8 in Tokyo.

Beny Alagem resigns as head of Packard Bell NEC: Packard Bell NEC's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Beny Alagem, said he resigned from the company to pursue other interests. In a statement, Alagem said he had fundamental differences with major shareholders NEC Corp and Groupe Bull. Alagem said NEC and Groupe Bull asked him to remain chairman of the personal computer maker, but he said he decided he would be happier in his own venture.

Marubeni to invest in Rolls-Royce engine project: Japan's Marubeni Corp said on Wednesday that it would participate in Rolls-Royce Plc's new aircraft enginedevelopment project as a risk-and-revenue sharing partner. A spokesman for the Japanese trading house said Marubeni would initially pay for five per cent of the all of the costs involved in developing Rolls-Royce's Trent 500 engine. Marubeni aims eventually to increase its stake in the project to 10 per cent, the spokesman said and declined to disclose the amount of the investment.

Volkswagen AG, Volvo AB in alliance talks: Germany's Volkswagen AG and Sweden's Volvo AB are in initial talks on a business-cooperation agreement which could eventually lead to a merger, The Wall Street Journal Europe said on Wednesday. VW could not immediately be reached for comment. The paper, citing sources familiar with the situation, said VW and Volvo chief executives met secretly on Friday in Gothenburg to discuss the possibility of a broad business alliance which would help VW enter the market for medium and heavy trucks.

Tektronix unveils new DPO: Tektronix has unveiled a new Digital PhosphorOscilloscope (DPO), which the company claims will revolutionise test and measurement industry. The DPO, incorporating a unique three-dimensional signal analysis, storage and display of electronic signals, allows engineers enormous insight into the subtle patterns and behavioural variations of complex electronic signals. The product will improve functions in telecom, data communications and computer/peripherals industries.

Seagate launches new hard-disk drive: Seagate Technology Inc has launched the first disc drive designed specifically for sub-$1,000 PC desktop computer systems. Offering 2.1 Gbytes of capacity in a 3.5 inch for factor, the Ultra ATA interface drive, the ST3211, provides OEM customers with a unique opportunity to address the challenges of the emerging below $1,000 PC market. Seagate is the only independent disc drive manufacturer with the vertical integration strategy to control development of components and technology and its own manufacturing facilities. The new drive features an11-millisecond average seek and the ability to transfer data at a rate of up to 33.3 Mbytes/second via the Ultra ATA interface.

Dorchester buys Equity Research Ltd: Dorchester Pacific said on Wednesday it had bought Equity Research Ltd, an investment adviser, sharebroker and publisher of the NZ Investors' Monthly magazine, for NZ$2.33 million. The price will be settled with a combination of Dorchester ordinary shares, and Dorchester Finance subordinated unsecured notes plus cash. Dorchester will issue 5.8 million ordinary shares to the vendor at 10.83 NZ cents each.

Dresdner buys Italian broker Albertini: Dresdner Bank AG said on Wednesday its investment banking arm Dresdner Kleinwort Benson had bought a stake of about 67 per cent in Albertini & C. SpA., an Italian stockbroker based in Milan. The bank did not disclose the purchase price. The acquisition has yet to be approved by authorities, Dresdner said.