Business briefs for August 1, 2001

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

Hall Communications has acquired Quillin & Co. Advertising and Public Relations, the two Las Vegas companies announced Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed.

Tim Quillin will join Hall as vice president of marketing and the company will retain the Hall name, said Mick Hall, president and chief executive officer.

A spokesman said there would be some staff reduction at a future date. Hall has 50 on staff in Las Vegas and 12 in Los Angeles while Quillin has 23 employees in Las Vegas.

Pepsi, Quaker Oats merger approved

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission today cleared the way for PepsiCo Inc. to acquire Quaker Oats Co., voting unanimously to close its antitrust investigation.

The commission took the action after deadlocking 2-2 on the question of whether to have its staff seek a preliminary injunction to stop the deal, said FTC spokeswoman Cathy MacFarlane.

The deal had raised concerns within the federal government about the possibility that it could harm competition because of PepsiCo's ownership of All-Sport, a competing brand to Quaker's top-selling sports drink Gatorade. But PepsiCo agreed to get rid of All-Sport in order to keep the deal alive.

Quaker Oats makes a long line of other products, including Cap'n Crunch cereal and Aunt Jemima pancake mix.

Late last year, PepsiCo sealed a deal to buy Quaker Oats for about $13.4 billion in stock.

Adding Gatorade to its line of noncarbonated beverages gives PepsiCo the dominant brand in the $2.5 billion sports drink field. The company also sells Aquafina water, Lipton teas and Tropicana juices.