Few offers

The number of initial public offerings for companies backed by venture-capital groups in the United States fell last year from 67 to just 41, reports VentureOne, a division of Dow Jones. The level of activity is down drastically not just from the peak level of 250 offerings in 1999, but from normal levels before then. Low investor interest and a regulatory clampdown on Wall Street are being blamed for the slide.

Celtic tiger

Amgen, one of the world's largest biotechnology companies, has announced plans to build a US$1-billion manufacturing plant in Cork, Ireland. The California company says that more than 1,100 people will be employed at the new plant, and that Ireland had been selected for its growing pharmaceutical industry and its low corporate taxes. It also plans to open a new clinical research facility at Uxbridge, near London.

Nuclear ready

Toshiba is set to purchase Westinghouse, the world's largest builder of nuclear reactors, for about US$5 billion. The acquisition is the largest-ever foreign purchase by the Japanese consumer electronics group. And the purchase price is almost double what was anticipated when UK-based BNFL put the Pittsburgh company up for sale last year. This reflects growing expectations that the construction of nuclear power plants is about to see a revival worldwide after decades in the doldrums.

Up for sale

Biotechnology company ImClone Systems of New York has appointed the investment bank Lazards to find it a partner or a buyer. At the same time, its acting chief executive is being replaced, for the second time in three months. The company, whose main product is the cancer drug Erbitux, has been in trouble since its former boss Samuel Waksal was jailed for insider trading in 2003. Analysts caution that, as a biotechnology company whose fortunes largely hinge on a single product that is facing increasingly stiff competition, ImClone may struggle to find a buyer.