Sandridge Permian Trust (PER) News

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. computer giant Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) Inc. said it agreed to buy information technology firm Perot Systems Corp. for $3.9 billion.

The deal, agreed to by both company boards, includes a tender offer from Dell to buy all of Perot's outstanding Class A common stock for $30 per share in cash, the companies said in a statement.

The deal is expected to close before the end of January 2010.

Analyst Roger Kay at Endpoint Technology Associates said the purchase fills "a hole in Dell's portfolio."

"It is a very big bet, but I would say a necessary bet. Perot Systems is one of the few viable freestanding services companies that has a reasonable size and girth," Kay said.

Analysts said Dell was vulnerable to the recession's lack of hardware sales as corporations have cut back on buying new computers. The combination of Dell and Perot gives Dell $8 billion in annual services revenue, The (Austin, Texas) American-Statesman reported Monday.

MONTREAL, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Canadian financier Vincent Lacroix pleaded guilty to more than 200 fraud-related charges on the day before a criminal trial expected to last for months.

The charges include creating false documents, money laundering, forgery and conspiracy to commit fraud. Lacroix, former president of Norbourg Financial Group, a trust-fund company, was charged with swindling 9,200 investors out of $115 million.

In 2007, Lacroix was convicted in a civil trial on 51 Quebec Securities Act violations. He was sentenced in January to a 12-year term, which was reduced to five years, minus one day, The Montreal Gazette reported Monday.

That sentence was recently reduced to full parole, given the lack of violence in the case. Lacroix has been living in a halfway house since July 21.

For the criminal charges, he faces a return to prison and a possible sentence of 14 years, the newspaper said.

INGERSOLL, Ontario, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Union autoworkers at Ingersoll, Ontario, said they approved a contract that freezes wages for almost four years but provides for extended job security.

Sixty-four percent of Canadian Auto Workers Local 88 approved the contract for the CAMI assembly plant that, "provides … members with a degree of job security that most other autoworkers in North America can only dream of," CAW national President Ken Lewenza said.

The contract extends production at the plant until late into the next decade, the Toronto Star reported Monday.

"Our members recognized the importance of long-term stability, and although no one wanted these contract changes, I believe stability is what we achieved with this new agreement," said Mike Van Boekel, Local 88 plant chairman.

The contract suspends cost-of-living adjustments until June 2012, the Star reported.

CAMI, a joint venture between General Motors Co. and Suzuki Motor (OOTC:SZKMY) Co., has scheduled a third shift to start at the plant in October. CAMI also plans to recall about 350 laid-off workers, the newspaper said.