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Armonk, NY, United States (AHN) – International Business Machines Corp. is bent on retaining its hold as the number two most valuable company in the world by expanding its $22.5-billion software business.

IBM Senior Vice President Steve Mills says the firm, which has sold its hardware business and shifted to software development, plans to spend $100 million to $300 million to buy mid-sized firms.

The expansion aims to add another $20 billion in annual revenues by 2015, which would mean that IBM must double or triple the pace of sales growth at companies it plans to buy.

IBM’s success in software development, according to the company’s chief technology officer, Dr. Jai Menon, is providing clients with solutions that are flexible to meet their needs such as computing power, storage and memory requirements.

Menon said the IT industry needs to come up with data-centric computers from the current processing-centric computers that could extract and find information in data to aid human cognition. He explained that would involve moving away from machines that compute to those that could extract information from large amounts of unstructured data.

Software accounted for 86.9 percent of IBM’s gross margins out of the $99.9 billion the IT company earned in sales last year.

Since 2006, IBM has purchased about 50 software companies in areas such as data analysis, e-commerce, supply-chain management and computer security.

IBM last week surpassed Microsoft as the second most valuable company after its market capitalization reached $214 billion.

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When Steve Jacobs started Fairway Independent Mortgage in 1996, a life event prompted him to open the company in Wisconsin instead of Texas. The company has now grown to more than 1,000 employees. Fairway plans to continue its growth by maintaining a focus on purchase-money business.

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Last month, the Federal Housing Administration endorsed over 2,500 more mortgages than in April. On a dollar-volume basis, production was up around $0.1 billion. Overall activity appears to be headed lower based on new applications, which were down more than a quarter in May.

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Marlborough, MA, United States (AHN) – The manufacturer of Publix Caesar Salad Dressing, Ken’s Foods, Inc. is recalling a limited number of 16oz Publix Caesar Salad Dressing bottles because it may contain undeclared fish, gluten and soy allergens. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to fish, soy and gluten run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

The dressing is 16oz. Publix Caesar Salad Dressing with an expiration date of 31MAR12 A. Bottles labeled correctly will have a UPC#4141500730. The product may have the incorrect ingredient statement for “Buttermilk Ranch” dressing. This dressing was distributed to Publix stores in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina.

The recall was initiated after it was discovered a portion of the run contains an incorrect back panel label. This label does not list the presence of fish, gluten and soy.

As of this date, there have been no adverse reaction complaints reported relating to this recall.

As part of Publix commitment to food safety, they are asking customers to return the product to the place where it was purchased for a full refund or replacement. Consumers with questions may contact Publix at 1-800-242-1227, Monday through Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm EST.

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MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, said it’s weighing acquisitions in Latin America as ING Groep NV considers selling its business in the region.

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – British Columbia Premier Christy Clark announced a plan to increase business taxes in the province to make up for a proposal to reduce the controversial harmonized sales tax.

BC plans to reduce the HST rate to 10 percent from 12 percent. In turn, Clark announced that by 2012 the province’s corporate tax rate would increase to 12 from 10 percent. Clark’s plan would reverse the previous BC policy of reducing corporate taxes to encourage competition and help create jobs.

The HST rate, however, would be reduced in phases. Clark said the cut would initially be by 1 percent to 11 percent by July 2012 and by another 1 percent to 10 percent by July 2014.

Until the HST tax rate is cut 10 percent by 2014, BC residents would have paid $185 more a year for goods and services they purchased. When the rate is down to 10 percent, it would be the only time that British Columbians would gain by $120 annually.

BC voters are scheduled to decide on the fate of the HST in a referendum. Ballots are expected to arrive by mail at homes in early June and must be returned to Elections BC by mail or delivered personally to a Service BC office by July 22.

If the “Yes” votes prevail, BC would return to the old general sales tax and provincial sales tax systems before the Liberal-led government integrated the two into the HST in July 2010.

The opposition New Democratic Party is waging a campaign for BC residents to turn down the HST, but did not offer to reduce the rate. NDP leader in BC Adrian Dix said the Liberal’s proposal to cut the HST rate would favor big businesses over families. Dix added the Liberals can’t be trusted to keep the promised to lower the HST rate.

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Societe Generale SA, the world’s leader in equity derivatives, is striking into a business the French bank once eschewed for its paltrier profits: mergers and acquisitions.

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First-quarter retail originations were down around 50 percent from the fourth-quarter 2010 at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. Compared to the first-quarter 2010, production was off around 14 percent. But Fairway reported strong growth at its recently launched wholesale lending division.

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Chadds Ford, PA, United States (AHN) – Endo Pharmaceuticals will acquire American Medical Systems for $2.9 billion, bolstering a core segment offering urological devices and services.

The Pennsylvania-based company said it would pay $30 per share, 34 percent higher than AMS’ closing share price last Friday. The purchase includes assumption and repayment of $312 million of AMS debt.

AMS is a Minnesota-based supplier of devices for incontinence, erectile dysfunction and pelvic disorders. The company’s products were used to treat 340,000 patients in 2010, with 73 percent of sales coming from the United States and the remainder from international markets.

Endo expects the newly combined company to have revenue of about $3 billion and earnings of $1 billion. It said revenue from AMS devices is expected to grow with the continued increase of minimally invasive surgical procedures.

“This acquisition is a great step in achieving Endo’s core strategy,” Endo chief executive Dave Holveck said in a statement. “We are creating a company uniquely positioned to respond to the changing healthcare environment and the competitive, rapidly consolidating industry landscape.”

AMS president and chief executive Anthony Bihl said, “I believe that the two will be a great strategic fit, with AMS building on Endo’s existing devices & services segment and allowing our management and employees to accelerate the growth of our business to improve the quality of life for a growing number of men and women.”

Shares of American Medical Systems rose more than 32 percent after the acquisition was announced.

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Cincinnati, OH, United States (AHN) – Procter & Gamble is selling Pringles in a $2.35 billion agreement that will boost Diamond Foods’ food business.

In a statement on Tuesday, Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble said it will gain about $1.5 billion in earnings after tax from the transaction. The company will establish a separate entity to hold the Pringles business, which will merge with Diamond.

Shareholders can participate in the split-merge agreement and offer to exchange their shares of Procter & Gamble shares for shares of Diamond.

The transaction consists of $1.5 billion in Diamond common stock and assumption of $850 million of Pringles debt.

Diamond, which owns such foods as Emerald nuts and Kettle Brand potato chips, expects its snacks business to more than triple after the purchase. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the largest markets for Pringles, it expects to double revenue from snacks.

Pringles, which is sold in more than 140 countries, is Procter & Gamble’s only remaining food brand. The company’s other brands include Ariel, Downy, Duracell, Gillette, Iams, Oral-B, Pampers and Tide.

“Pringles is an iconic, billion dollar snack brand with significant global manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure,” Michael Mendes, chairman and chief executive for the California-based company, said in a statement.

“We are confident Diamond Foods will be an excellent new home for our Snacks employees,” said Procter & Gamble chairman and chief executive Bob McDonald. “This is also a terrific deal for our shareholders – maximizing value and minimizing earnings per share dilution.”

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