A123 raises $40m more in venture capital financing

A123 Systems Inc. , a Watertown maker of a new kind of lightweight, high-capacity battery, has collected $40 million in a round of venture capital funding, bringing total capital raised to $102 million. A key investor in the new round is Procter & Gamble Co., maker of Duracell batteries. That could create major platforms for A123 to market its batteries, which pack about five times as much electrical charge, by weight, as conventional batteries. A123 recently closed deals to supply batteries to General Motors Corp. for a new hybrid-engine Saturn and to GE for hybrid-engine buses. (Peter J. Howe)

Becton, Dickinson and Co., the world's largest maker of hypodermic syringes, must face a patent-infringement suit filed by a Massachusetts company over models designed to protect health workers from accidental needle sticks. MBO Laboratories Inc., of Bedford, won a federal appeals court ruling that revived a suit it filed in 2003. The ruling was posted on the website of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Washington. The dispute is over syringes with needles mounted in guard sleeves so they don't come in contact with the health worker. (Bloomberg)

Fidelity Brokerage Co., the biggest by assets, said total client assets rose 21 percent to $1.7 trillion last year, due to growth in retirement services and new alliances. The growth rate for 2006 was slightly lower than the 27 percent growth that Fidelity saw in 2005 over the previous year, when it had a lower asset base. Net new retail client assets, which include sales of Fidelity and non-Fidelity mutual funds and individual securities, rose 50 percent in 2006, to $65.4 billion, the Boston firm said. (Reuters)

State Street Corp., the second-largest manager of exchange-traded funds, plans to open the first infrastructure-sector ETF in the United States, reflecting growing investor interest in utilities and telecommunications companies. The fund, which will begin trading on the American Stock Exchange within two weeks, will track the Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 index, said Dodd Kittsley, director of ETF research at Boston-based State Street Global Advisors. The index includes telecommunications, electricity, and water- and gas-distribution companies in countries including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Brazil, and Russia. (Bloomberg)

THE NATION

Hewlett-Packard Co. paid to obtain information from the former head of a Dell Inc. unit about Dell's plans to enter the printer market, a former Hewlett-Packard executive, Karl Kamb, said in papers filed in federal court in Texas. The former Dell employee obtained information on product specifications, target costs, and pricing estimates, and proposed manufacturers and suppliers, Kamb said. His statements were part of a countersuit against HP, which sued Kamb and others, accusing them of stealing trade secrets to start a new company. (Bloomberg)

The Los Angeles Times Media Group said it is reorganizing the newspaper's newsroom into an around-the-clock operation with an emphasis on breaking news on its website and offering expanded coverage in its print edition. The paper will focus on offering multimedia content on its website as stories unfold, as well as more personalized ways to get stories. One example is MyLatimes.com, launched yesterday. The site uses RSS feeds -- a technology for notifying users of new entries on their favorite news sites and blogs -- to deliver content directly to computer users. In print editions, the newspaper will emphasize editorial analysis, investigative reporting, trend stories, and features. (AP)

Merrill Lynch & Co.'s chief executive, Stanley O'Neal, received $46 million in salary and bonuses in 2006, making him the second-highest-paid chief executive on Wall Street. The nation's largest brokerage said O'Neal received $18.5 million in cash as a performance bonus on top of his $700,000 salary, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also was awarded $26.8 million in stock that vests between 2008 and 2011, the filing revealed.