BRIEFCASE NORTHROP ABSORBS RECENT ACQUISITION.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

CENTURY CITY - Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Monday that it has successfully completed the ``stand up'' of Newport News Shipbuilding as a fully integrated sector of the company.

Newport News' policies and operating practices now fully comply with the requirements of Northrop Grumman, the Century City-based company announced.

These include a wide range of policies and procedures, such as common financial reporting, program oversight and risk management, human resources practices and access to the company's electronic network, among others.

In 2001, the company acquired Woodland Hills-based Litton Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding and the Electronics and Information Systems Group of Aerojet General Corp.

Since 1993, Northrop Grumman has acquired 15 companies, growing from about $5 billion in annual revenues to an estimated $18 billion for 2002, and from about 30,000 employees to nearly 100,000.

Volkman named CIO of VU Games

UNIVERSAL CITY - Vivendi Universal Games, the worldwide games division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, announced Monday that Paul Volkman will be its chief information officer.

Formerly VU Games' director of information technology, Volkman will assume his new role as CIO effective immediately and report directly to Luc Vanhal, president and chief operating officer.

Volkman will be responsible for developing IT strategies on behalf of VU Games and its North American-based studios. He also will oversee the company's infrastructure, telecommunications, corporate applications and Internet technologies.

Volkman succeeds Bertrand Leroux, who has assumed a new role as special adviser to the CIO for parent company Vivendi Universal.

Golf-course firm approves merger

SANTA MONICA - National Golf Properties Inc. said Monday that its board approved the merger with its primary tenant, American Golf Corp. and some of its affiliates, including Golf Enterprises Inc. and European Golf LLC.

Under the terms of the deal, National Golf and American Golf and its designated affiliates will become subsidiaries of a newly Delaware corporation that will be named later.

All issued and outstanding shares of National Golf will be converted tax-free on a one-for-one basis into an equal number of shares of common stock in the new company.

Also, National Golf will no longer be a real estate investment trust.

The company owns and operates golf courses worldwide.

Short-term T-bills sell at varied rates

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities were mixed in Monday's auction.

The Treasury Department sold $11 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.790 percent, down from 1.820 percent last week. An additional $11 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 2.110 percent, unchanged from the week before.

The three-month rate was the lowest since March 4 when the bills sold for 1.760 percent.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 2.70 percent last week from 2.66 percent the previous week.

Distributor BMK sells off its assets

COMMERCE - BMK Inc., a distributor of merchandise ranging from cosmetics to pet supplies for supermarkets and drugstores nationwide, said Monday that it has entered into an agreement to sell its assets.

BMK said its assets will be sold to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc. for $55 million cash, plus the assumption of certain obligations. The sale is subject to Bankruptcy Court approval and overbids.

BMK retained the investment banking firm of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin to solicit interest in the company.

``Upon receiving Bankruptcy Court approval, we will solicit higher and better offers from other interested parties and, ultimately, will conduct an auction to ensure that the company has maximized the value of its assets for the benefit of its stakeholders,'' said Matt Niemann of Houlihan Lokey.

BMK expects to require the submission of competing bids by mid-May and to close a sale as soon as possible thereafter.

BMK and seven affiliates filed reorganization petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles in early December.

BMK, with revenues last year of about $400 million, serves 44 states and most major grocery and drug chains in the country. Nationwide, the company has 1,900 full-time and 500 part-time employees.

McDonald's ballot has animal issue

DES MOINES, Iowa - McDonald's Corp. shareholders will vote on whether to implement global animal-welfare standards after the fast-food chain couldn't keep the issue off its upcoming proxy ballot.

The resolution calls on the hamburger giant to extend animal-treatment guidelines in place in the United States and Britain to all 121 countries where it does business. It was proposed by Trillium Asset Management, an institutional holder that specializes in socially responsible investments, and by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

In the past, PETA has taken credit for McDonald's adoption of animal- welfare standards for cattle, pigs and chickens in the United States, although the company has said the activist group was not responsible for its actions.

Stockholder tries to prod Lockheed

PHILADELPHIA - In an action reminiscent of the anti-apartheid movement two decades ago, Swarthmore College is using its stockholder status to press Lockheed Martin Corp. into adopting a nondiscrimination policy based on sexual orientation.

The Quaker-founded college in suburban Philadelphia has submitted a resolution calling on the defense giant to add language to its equal employment opportunity policy specifically stating that the company does not discriminate against homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people. Shareholders will vote on the measure at an April 25 meeting in San Diego.

``We hope that our actions will not only lead to change at Lockheed Martin but will also exert pressure on other Fortune 500 companies to update their policies and encourage colleges to use their power as shareholders for social good,'' said Morgan Simon, a Swarthmore sophomore who will represent the college at the meeting.