It bought Mallinckrodt Inc., a maker of specialty chemicals, drugs and medical diagnostic equipment.

The latter's rise came after announcing it is to buy a Chinese maker of generic injectable antibiotics as part of a drive to increase sales in emerging markets.

An example would be Sony buying a maker of Betamax videocassettes in order to ensure a continuing source to its customers who use Betamax videorecorders.

And management thought enough of specialty chemicals in 1980 to buy Tremco Inc., a maker of sealants, roofing materials and adhesives.

The client was thinking about buying a maker of cast-iron pulleys and wanted to know whether the acquisition would make sense.

It bought Injectaplastic, a French maker of plastic housewares, and Dom-Plast, a similar company in Poland.

But having itself struck a deal on Wednesday, buying a Nottingham-based maker of valve adaptors, Rotork eased 12p to £17.96.

Goodrich said it had no plans to drop its offer to buy Coltec, a maker of aerospace components and industrial products in Charlotte, N.C.

Some analysts were perplexed that Dell, the master of the high-volume low-margin business, would buy a high-margin low-volume maker that would have little impact on profits.

That is an exaggeration, because the company increased its borrowing last year to build a new plant and buy a maker of wrapping paper.