Business: Business digest

HP-COMPAQ FIGHT GETS NASTIER: Hewlett-Packard director Walter Hewlett said plans drawn up last fall would bring chief executive Carly Fiorina and her counterpart at Compaq Computer Corp., Michael Capellas, a total of $117.4-million over two years if the companies' $21.5-billion merger goes through. HP said no such plans ever existed and accused Hewlett of trying to mislead investors. Hewlett is the deal's leading opponent. HP and Compaq have revealed that thousands of key employees and executives would get $634-million in bonuses if they remain at the combined company after the deal is completed.

KMART UNVEILS NEW LINE: Kmart revealed an exclusive clothing line by Walt Disney Co., its first major marketing event since filing for bankruptcy last month. James B. Adamson, Kmart's new chairman, said developing exclusive partnerships with vendors such as Martha Stewart, Disney and Sesame Street, while fortifying the company's urban business, will be key to its turnaround. The Disney line is designed without Disney characters, a first for the entertainment company.

TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Tuesday's auction. The Treasury sold $23-billion in four-week bills at a discount rate of 1.745 percent, up from 1.72 percent the previous week.

GLOBAL IMAGING STOCK OFFER: A secondary stock offering raised $75.8-million for Global Imaging Systems Inc. of Tampa and a group of selling shareholders led by chairman Carl Thoma. The office equipment distributor's offering of 4.9-million shares was priced at $15.50 per share Monday night and began trading Tuesday. It closed at $15.50 per share. The company said it will use its part of the proceeds to repay debt. Lead managers were Raymond James & Associates and UBS Warburg, with Robert W. Baird & Co. as co-manager.

NEW FOCUS ON GREENSPAN: Investors will be listening for hints about Alan Greenspan's future, as well as the economy's, when he goes before Congress today. The issue of whether Greenspan, now in his 15th year as Fed chief, will leave the central bank before his term is over in June 2004 has become a hot subject on Wall Street. Greenspan, who will turn 76 next week, has served as Federal Reserve chairman longer than all but one of his predecessors.

PETERSON STARTS VENTURE: Pete Peterson, a one-time prisoner of war in Vietnam who later became U.S. ambassador to that nation, is beginning a new company to increase America's business presence in Southeast Asia. Peterson, 66, his Vietnamese-born wife, Vi Le, and Robert Schiffer, former vice president for investment development at the Overseas Private Investment Corp., are the principals and primary investors in the new corporation, Peterson International. Peterson, a one-time Florida gubernatorial candidate, is not pushing any specific product, but is traveling over the next several weeks looking for investors and companies interested in doing business in Vietnam.

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