Peter Black has recently acquired Hexel International for £19.2m. Hexel develops and sources private label personal care products for leading multiple retailers in the UK and Europe. Hexel made pre-tax profits in 1999 of £2.3m.

Stephen Lister, chief executive of Peter Black Holdings plc, said "The acquisition of Hexel will significantly strengthen our personal care division and the combined businesses will be a formidable force in the market. Hexel brings additional products, customers and category management expertise which I am confident will enable us to accelerate the growth in our personal care division".

Fine Art Developments shares moved over 230p this week as FMR Corporation, an American fund management group associated with Fidelity International, announced it had acquired a further 854,000 shares to raise its total holding to almost 6 million shares or over 8 per cent of the company.

Filtronic announces its results on Monday, and the shares have moved up in anticipation of an optimistic statement to counter a short-term dip in profits. Filtronic seems set fair for long-term expansion, but like its Saltaire neighbour Pace Micro Technology it may give shareholders a bumpy ride along the way, as the timing of major contracts is outside the company's control. Chairman Professor Rhodes warned in December that operating profit in the first half would be just £3m-£4m following losses in the US. Some costs from the new gallium arsenide semiconductor facility at Newton Aycliffe may also be charged, but this development for the mobile phone market will help to power profits in future years.

Prices of blue chips have shown caution in the New Year so far, as the prospect of higher interest rates in the UK and possibly in America moves closer. Two major bid battles - for NatWest by Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland, and by Vodafone Airtouch for Mannesmann - are reaching the final stages, and neither result is yet a foregone conclusion. A surprise in either of these battles could trigger a significant change in market sentiment.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.