BRIEFCASE QUEST MAKES OFFER FOR UNILAB NOTES.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

TARZANA - Quest Diagnostics Inc. announced a tender offer Wednesday for all of the outstanding 12.75 percent senior notes in Unilab Corp. that are valued at $100.8 million.

Quest Diagnostics Inc., the nation's largest provider of medical diagnostic testing services, acquired Tarzana-based Unilab Corp. for about $700 million last month.

THQ, ZIO join up for wireless fun

CALABASAS - THQ Wireless announced Wednesday that it has granted ZIO Interactive Inc., the exclusive rights to distribute, market and advertise a selection of THQ Wireless' mobile games, ringtones and other related content throughout South Korea.

THQ Wireless content scheduled for release under the agreement include games based on Major League Baseball, MotoGP and World Wrestling Entertainment. Versions of the games will be developed for Korean mobile phones supporting GVM, BREW and Javastation.

The first games are scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2003.

THQ Wireless is a world-leading publisher and distributor of games for mobile phones with a current catalog of more than 50 titles. The company is a subsidiary of video game publisher THQ Inc.

WellPoint closed out of insurer deal

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland's insurance commissioner denied a bid to sell the state's largest health insurer, CareFirst, to Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint Health Networks, saying Wednesday that the proposed $1.37 billion sale was not in the public's best interest.

Insurance Commissioner Steven Larsen said the sale to WellPoint was ``flawed and did not produce fair market value.''

In addition, he said bonuses to executives called for under the deal violated the requirements under the law for conversion of a nonprofit concern to a for-profit company.

A recent report by a Harvard Business School professor found CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield is worth substantially more than the price offered by WellPoint.

The analysis by economist Richard Meyer determined that as of Oct. 31, CareFirst was worth about $2.27 billion.

Dryer's melting after nixed deal

WASHINGTON - Shares of Dreyer's fell nearly 21 percent Wednesday after federal regulators moved to block a deal with Nestle that would have put Haagen Dazs under the same corporate roof as high-end ice cream rivals Dreamery, Godiva and Starbucks.

The $2.8 billion merger of Nestle Holdings Inc. and Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. would create a combination that would control nearly two-thirds of the market for the richest, sweetest and most expensive ice cream.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday authorized its staff to seek an injunction blocking the deal on grounds it would eliminate competition and raise prices for ``superpremium'' ice cream.