BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Blimp maker wins business prize

TARZANA - A blimpmaker's entrepreneurial acumen won him the US Small Business Administration's Los Angeles district Small Business Person of the Year, the agency announced Friday. Igor Pasternak, who heads Worldwide Aeros Corp., earned the award for its improved revenues and increased hiring.

The Ukranian-born businessman started the company in Russia, relocated to the United States in 1992 and two years lated to California. He'll receive his prize in May.

Google shares up on S&P news

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc.'s shares surged 7 percent Friday as Wall Street reacted to the company's impending addition to the Standard & Poor's 500 index - a milestone that gives another reason to scrutinize the online search engine leader's already closely watched stock.

S&P announced its decision to include Google in the influential index late Thursday, snapping the company's stock out of its recent doldrums.

Google's shares soared $23.91 to close at $365.80 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company will join the S&P 500 March 31, replacing Burlington Resources Inc.

Bankruptcies hit record high in '05

WASHINGTON - Personal bankruptcies soared 30 percent to a record high last year as financially strained people rushed to file before new restrictions took effect Oct. 17.

Bankruptcy petitions filed in federal courts totaled 2,039,214 in 2005, up from 1,563,145 in 2004, according to data released Friday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

A new law, which brought the most comprehensive revision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in a quarter-century, made it more difficult to erase credit card and other debts in bankruptcy.

Microsoft delays release of Office

SEATTLE - Three days after saying it will delay the consumer version of its new Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft Corp. said Friday that the update to its Office business software suite also won't appear in stores until January.

The new version of Office, the popular suite that includes a word processor, Excel spreadsheet and Outlook e-mail software, had been expected to be widely released by the end of this year.

In a statement, the Redmond software company said Office 2007 will be completed in October as planned and will be available at that time to large customers that buy software licenses in bulk. But it will not hit retail shelves until January, to coincide with Windows Vista's retail debut.

Bayer's Schering bid beats Merck

BERLIN - Bayer AG's 16.3 billion euro ($19.6 billion) offer for drugmaker Schering AG was embraced enthusiastically by its target Friday as German rival Merck abandoned its own takeover offer.

Bayer's bid late Thursday trumped Merck's hostile 14.9 billion ($17.9 billion) offer for Schering made on March 13.

Bayer CEO Werner Wenning said 6,000 jobs would likely be eliminated ``in the upcoming years'' after the acquisition, but did not provide exact details. He added that the company did not plan to divest any Schering units.

Tim Hortons does well in NYSE bow

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Shares of Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc. jumped nearly 22 percent Friday in their trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

The shares, trading under the symbol ``THI,'' rose $5.01 to close at $28.17, up from its initial public offering price of $23.16 per share set Thursday night. They traded as high as $33 earlier in the session. Nearly 26.5 million shares were traded.

The company is being spun off by corporate parent Wendy's International Inc., based in the Columbus suburb of Dublin. Tim Hortons sold 29 million shares, netting $671.6 million for a 15 percent stake in the company.