Inverness Medical to buy Australian firm for $37m

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc., a Waltham medical diagnostics company, agreed to buy Panbio Ltd., an Australian diagnostic equipment maker, for $37 million. The deal is subject to several conditions, including approval by Panbio shareholders. Among Panbio's diagnostic products are a test to detect viruses. Inverness hopes to capitalize on Panbio's position in the dengue fever market. Last month, Inverness completed a $326.3 million buyout of Cholestech Corp. (AP)

Connecticut accused a Marsh & McLennan Cos. unit of illegally inflating insurance costs for consumers nationwide in an antitrust suit. The suit, filed in Hartford Superior Court, names the Guy Carpenter unit, Marsh & McLennan's risk and reinsurance specialist. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the practices potentially cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. (Reuters)

Ellington Management Group LLC, the Old Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund firm that focuses on mortgage securities, suspended client redemptions from two funds because it's too hard to value their assets. Investors won't be able to withdraw money from New Ellington Credit Overseas Ltd. and New Ellington Credit Partners LP, according to a copy of the letter posted on nakedshorts.com. There's been little or no trading in some low-rated or unrated securities backed by subprime home loans, making valuations difficult, the Sept. 30 letter said. (Bloomberg)

One of the nation's largest power generators has agreed to end a federal lawsuit by paying $4.6 billion to reduce pollution that has eaten away at Northeast mountain ranges and national landmarks. The settlement requires Ohio-based American Electric Power to reduce chemical emissions that cause acid rain by at least 69 percent over the next decade. It also fines AEP an additional $15 million in civil penalties and another $60 million in cleanup and mitigation costs to help heal parkland and waterways that have been hurt by the pollution. Details of the agreement were provided by two people familiar with its terms who spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement had not yet been filed in federal court. AEP spokesmen declined to comment. Eight states including Massachusetts, a dozen environmental groups, and the EPA brought the suit in 1999. (AP)

TiVo Inc. is introducing music to its entertainment services, offering owners of the digital video recorders access through their TVs to RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody music service. The new feature means TiVo subscribers with broadband-connected boxes will be able to listen to music streamed over the Net from Rhapsody's service, which has a catalog of more than 4 million songs. Tivo and RealNetworks view the accord as a way to cross-market to boost their subscriber bases. Whether users access it through TiVo, a PC, or portable gadget, the Rhapsody service will cost $12.99 a month over the $12.95 or more TiVo charges. (AP)

Thomson Corp.'s $18.4 billion offer for Reuters will face an in-depth inquiry by EU antitrust regulators, who worry the deal could harm competition in the financial information industry, the European Commission said. The EU's executive arm said its initial investigation saw problems because both companies supply data feeds to traders, control news services, and have access to broker research reports as well as financial information databases they sell to their customers. The two companies said they would keep working with the commission "to help narrow and resolve the issues which the EC has indicated require further review." (AP)

Sony Corp. has created a US advertising division that will place ads within PlayStation games. Darlene Kindler, a 25-year veteran in the consumer electronic industry, was named director of network advertising at the PlayStation unit, Sony said. Kindler had been vice president of publishing for Adscape Media Inc., an in-game ad company acquired by Google in March. (Bloomberg)

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