A Durham company that sells and services copiers, printers and fax machines across the Carolinas has been bought by the U.S. subsidiary of Canon.

Canon USA has acquired Tereck Office Solutions and its more than 70 employees, the companies announced today. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

There are no plans for layoffs, said Canon spokeswoman Melissa Moritz.

Buying Tereck gives Tokyo-based Canon, which is the world's largest maker of cameras and office equipment, a stronger foothold in the Carolinas.

"This acquisition will enable us to provide even greater levels of service to businesses and end-users in the Carolinas regions," said Canon USA CEO Joe Adachi, in a prepared statement.

Tereck CEO Ed Ecker, who founded the company in 1997, will remain with the business in an advisory role. Tod Pike, currently president of Canon Business Solutions, will become head of the new division.

IBM plans to spend $20 billion on acquisitions during the next five years, the company's CEO told investors in New York today.

CEO Sam Palmisano is signaling his pace of acquisitions may be accelerating, Bloomberg News reported. He spent more than $20 billion on 100 purchases in the eight years since taking over in 2002, partly to focus on the higher-margin businesses of services and software. He has also bought back shares and cut jobs to help boost earnings.

IBM is one of the Triangle's largest private employers, with about 10,000 workers at its Research Triangle Park campus. Palmisano's big buyout plans also could mean good news for this region's collection of software and tech firms, if he embraces shopping locally.

Palmisano also said he expects the company's earnings will jump to about $20 per share by 2015, bolstered by cost savings and software demand. The company reiterated that earnings per share will grow more than 10 percent this year, to at least $11.20. 

Keep the IPO champagne on ice for now.

Charlotte-based American Tire Distributors, which in February filed plans to raise $230 million in an initial public offering, today announced it agreed to be bought by a private equity firm for $1.3 billion instead.

That news follows last week's decision by officials at Raleigh-based Lulu to postpone its planned IPO because of lackluster investor demand. American Tire's IPO would have been one of the largest in North Carolina in years.

IPOs are a risky step, and deals frequently get delayed or derailed for a variety of factors, including volatility on Wall Street. The stock market surge of the past year has revived IPO interest, but investors are still skittish about making bets on unproven companies.

American Tire's decision to be acquired gives its investors and executives a faster return than an IPO would. It agreed to be bought by TPG Capital, a massive equity firm known for its takeovers of companies such as J. Crew, Burger King and Petco.

American Tire, the largest distributor of replacement tires, was founded in 1935. The company employs 2,300 people and owns 83 tire distributions centers in 37 states.

The company sells tires mostly to mom-and-pop tire shops. Last fall, it launched TireBuyer.com, a Web site aimed at capturing more of the market for online tire shoppers.

Oriel Therapeutics, a Durham company developing treatments for asthma and other respiratory ailments, has been acquired by Sandoz, the generic-drug division of pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. In 2007, Oriel raised $26.5 million in venture-capital financing.

The company was founded in 2001 by Anthony Hickey and Timothy Crowder, based on inhaled drug-delivery technology developed at the UNC School of Pharmacy.

Oriel's products include experimental, generic treatments for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The company also developed a new type of disposable dry powder inhaler to improve delivery of respiratory drugs.

A Burlington-based medical-testing company that employs about 1,000 people in the Triangle could be an acquisition target.

Shares of LabCorp jumped today on speculation that the company may be bought, Jefferies Group analyst Arthur Henderson told Bloomberg News.

LabCorp reported in a regulatory filing this morning that it altered its change-of-control provisions to eliminate additional severance pay to senior executives for excise taxes from payments related to a takeover.

That filing fueled speculation about a leveraged buyout, Henderson told Bloomberg. “These rumors have been building up for a couple of weeks,” Henderson said.

LabCorp shares rose $2.35 today to close at $79.33. The stock is up 27 percent in the past year.

Shares of larger rival Quest Diagnostics also jumped on buyout speculation, rising $1.60 to $59.86.

LabCorp, which employs about 28,000 people worldwide, announced last month that it will add 346 jobs in Greensboro as it consolidates billing operations from across the country. The company's operations include a massive genetics-testing facility in Research Triangle Park.

The corporate parent of Hardee's, the restaurant chain with deep roots in eastern North Carolina, agreed to be bought by a private equity firm for about $928 million.

CKE Restaurants, which bought Hardee's in 1997, this morning announced the deal with Thomas H. Lee Partners LP.

CKE investors will receive $11.05 in cash for each share. That's 24 percent more than CKE's closing price of $8.91 on Thursday.

The company's shares jumped $2.26 to $11.17 in morning trading. That price suggests that investors expect a better price from Thomas Lee or another suitor.

As part of its deal, CKE has until April 6 to solicit better offers. Thomas Lee is a Boston-based buyout firm.

A small Durham company developing new drugs to treat ailments such as ADHD, hypertension and insomnia has been acquired by an Atlanta pharmaceuticals firm for $29 million.

Addrenex Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2006, backed partly by $160,000 in loans from the N.C. Biotechnology Center.

Now the company with nine employees is being bought by its larger partner, Sciele Pharma. The two companies have worked together on developing new medicines.

Raleigh public relations firm French/West/Vaughan is expanding its presence in Tampa, Fla.

FrenchWest announced today it has agreed to acquire a four-person Tampa
agency, Relations PR & Marketing, for an undisclosed price. The
move will give it a staff of 10 in Tampa, not including independent
contractors.

"We feel fortunate to be able to continue to invest in our business
while a lot of other agencies are pulling back," said FrenchWest CEO
Rick French.

BB&T is a likely candidate to take over a troubled Alabama bank, a deal that would be the biggest ever for the Winston-Salem lender, according to published reports.

Analysts say that BB&T is a top contender to buy Colonial BancGroup, which has about $26 billion in total assets, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

SunTrust of Atlanta also may be interested in Colonial.

Such an acquisition would present challenges and opportunity for Kelly King, who took over as BB&T's CEO in January.