Serologicals to purchase California bioscience firm

Biotechnology company Serologicals Corp. on Wednesday said it had agreed to buy AltaGen Biosciences and its Sierra BioSource unit in a bid to expand its cell culture research capabilities.

Atlanta-based Serologicals said the deal would add to the company’s bottom line in fiscal year 2004. It expects the deal to close in the third quarter. No terms were disclosed.

AltaGen Biosciences, which is based in Morgan Hill, Calif., and its Sierra unit offer research and development services in cellular and molecular biology.

Serologicals is building a production plant in Lawrence’s East Hills Business Park.

Retail

Kmart to sell stores

Kmart Holding Co. will sell up to 54 of its stores to Sears, Roebuck and Co. for up to $621 million, the retailers said Wednesday.

The exact number of the Kmart stores and their locations have yet to be determined.

The announcement came less than a month after Troy, Mich.-based Kmart announced it was selling up to 24 stores to Home Depot for as much as $365 million.

An announcement of a deal with Sears had been expected. Edward Lampert, chairman and majority shareholder of Kmart Holding, also is a large Sears shareholder.

Julian Day, chief executive of Kmart, said the locations being scooped up by Sears and Home Depot represented about 5 percent of Kmart’s store base.

Kmart operates a distribution center in Lawrence.

Manufacturing

Boeing finds buyer for electronics unit

Boeing Co. said Wednesday it had sold its Texas-based commercial aircraft electronics business to BAE Systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.

BAE Systems said it would keep all 600 Boeing employees at a 240,000-square-foot plant in Irving, Texas, and the handful of workers at service centers in London and Singapore.

Workers at the Irving plant produce equipment for Boeing airliners including flight controls, cabin electronics and electrical systems.

Boeing has been exploring buying more of its aircraft parts from outside vendors. Boeing has announced it is seeking a buyer for much of its operations in Wichita.

Leadership

Goodyear re-elects chair

Signaling confidence in financially struggling Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., shareholders overwhelmingly re-elected its chairman on Wednesday.

Robert J. Keegan, who also is president and chief executive of the nation’s largest tiremaker, won another three-year term with 84.5 percent of the vote.

Keegan, 56, has been chairman since 2000 and has led the Akron, Ohio-based company through some of its toughest times.

Goodyear has come through a period in which it cut 6,000 jobs, acknowledged accounting errors that cost it $280 million and spent more than $3 billion on restructuring.

The company operates a production plant in Topeka.