A Hickory, N.C.-based company that makes telecommunications equipment is in talks to be bought by a private equity firm for about $3 billion.

CommScope this morning confirmed that officials are in discussions with Washington-based Carlyle Group to sell the publicly traded company for $31.50 per share in cash.

CommScope has hired investment bank Allen & Co. as a financial adviser, but said it wouldn't comment further on a possible deal.

The company's shares closed Friday at $23.12, and were down more than 19 percent in the past year. On Monday, the shares jumped $7.04 to $30.16.

Pfizer will gain another Triangle operation when it buys King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion.

The deal announced today is Pfizer's largest since it bought rival Wyeth for $68 billion in 2009. That acquisition included Wyeth's vaccine plant in Sanford, where Pfizer plans to cut 400 workers over the next five years.

King has a research office in Cary. The Bristol, Tenn.-based company, which employs about 2,600 people worldwide, doesn't disclose employee totals at its regional offices, said spokesman Jack Howarth. He also declined to comment on what type of research is done at the Cary offices.

Gymboree, the children's clothing retailer with eight Triangle stores, agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm for $1.8 billion.

Boston-based Bain Capital Partners expects the transaction to close by year end. The deal is worth about $65.40 per share, a 24 percent premium to Gymboree's Friday closing stock price of $52.95.

Gymboree shares jumped $12 to $64.95 this morning.

“Gymboree is a terrific company with incredible brand strength and a large population of extremely satisfied customers,” Jordan Hitch, Bain Capital managing director, said in a statement.

Gymboree, whose stores include Crazy 8, Janie and Jack and its namesake chain, has more than 1,000 stores. The company, which is based in San Francisco, has seen sales growth slow during the economic downturn.

Talecris Biotherapeutics, which agreed in June to be bought by Grifols SA of Spain for $4 billion, reported that sales of its medicines made from blood plasma rose during the second quarter.

The Research Triangle Park company announced its latest quarterly results this morning before the stock market open.

Second-quarter net revenue rose to $402.8 million, up 7 percent from the same period last year. Net income excluding merger-related charges was $52.8 million, up 44 percent from a year ago.

Talecris makes products such as Gamunex and Prolastin, which are used to treat patients with immune disorders and other diseases. Most of its drugs are produced at the company's massive facility in Clayton, which employs more than 1,500 people.

The Grifols' deal still requires shareholder and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close later this year.

Talecris shares fell 4 cents to $21.76 on Wednesday. The stock began trading publicly last fall at $19, after Talecris' initial public offering.

A quick follow to news about Fifth Third big plans for the Triangle: Some of that expansion could come through acquisition.

The Cincinnati-based bank wants to add 20-25 branches in this market during the next three years, as the company shifts its focus to the fast-growing Southeast.

Officials at Fifth Third, which now has five Triangle branches, are looking for good spots to open new ones. Bob James, head of Fifth Third's North Carolina operations, also is open to buying a smaller bank to bulk up quickly.

“We are always interested in talking to other banks who share a similar philosophy around exceptional customer service and community involvement as we do," James said in a prepared statement. "An acquisition would certainly help us achieve our growth targets sooner."

Cree is sitting on a cash stash of nearly $1 billion, money that's earmarked to finance expansion, hiring, research and possibly acquisitions.

The Wall Street Journal cited the Durham maker of LEDs as an example of the increasing number of companies getting ready to spend stockpiled cash as the economy slowly recovers.

Cree will spend more than $250 million this year on factories, equipment and expansion in Durham and China, chief financial officer John Kurtzweil told the newspaper. The company had $988 million in cash and short-term investments on hand as of March 28, up from $367 million a year earlier.

Chris Viehbacher's shopping list could include targets with Triangle operations.

The CEO of French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis is reportedly working on a major acquisition in the United States. Viehbacher, who previously was GlaxoSmithKline's top executive in Research Triangle Park, briefed his current company's board last week about a proposed transaction, according to Bloomberg News and other published reports.

Among the rumored takeover candidates: Biogen Idec, which employs about 850 people at its RTP manufacturing campus, and Hospira, which has more than 300 workers at a Clayton plant. Other potential targets include Allergan and Genzyme.

Talecris Biotherapeutics is being sued by an investment fund over its proposed $4 billion buyout by Grifols SA of Spain.

The Laborers Local 235 Benefit Funds filed the suit Monday in Wilmington, Del., Chancery Court, Bloomberg News reported.

The suit contends that Talecris officials "are well aware of the company's intrinsic value and the fact that Talecris shares are significantly undervalued." Company officials have a duty to get the best price for shareholders, the suit charges.

Such lawsuits aren't unusual when a publicly traded company agrees to a takeover. 

A Spanish firm plans to swallow the Triangle's largest biotechnology company.

Grifols SA of Spain announced this morning it plans to buy Talecris Biotherapeutics for about $4 billion, nearly nine months after Talecris' shares began trading publicly. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2010.

The deal combines two companies that create medicines from donated blood plasma. Talecris gives Grifols a strong presence in the U.S. and Canada.

The union is just the latest twist for Talecris, based in Research Triangle Park, and its employees -- about 4,700 worldwide, including more than 2,200 in the Triangle. Many of those people work at Talecris' massive facility in Clayton, which the company is expanding after receiving the promise of up to $20 million in state and local incentives.

Talecris shares closed at $20.01, up 25 percent for the day.

A Durham company that runs clinical trials and provides other services for drug makers has acquired an Ohio firm to expand its oncology business.

Novella Clinical announced its purchase of Prologue Research International today. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The companies' customers don't overlap, said Novella CEO Richard Staub, left, in a prepared statement. Adding Prologue will give Novella "a dedicated business unit focused exclusively on oncology drug development, with the objective of bringing much needed products to market to improve the lives of people with cancer."