ImClone says Bristol-Myers' bid is too low

ImClone Systems Incorporated's board of directors said Monday cancer drug partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Company's $4.5 billion buyout offer "substantially undervalues" the company, with Chairman Carl Icahn personally against the deal. Despite calling the bid too low, ImClone stopped short of rejecting it and said its board formed a committee to weigh the offer. The board also said it is considering splitting the company into two units to focus on Erbitux and its developing pipeline separately. The New York-based companies are partners on the colon- and head-and-neck-cancer treatment Erbitux. They are also developing the drug as a lung cancer therapy.

JetBlue Airways said Monday that it would sell a pillow and blanket set for $7 on flights of two hours or more. The set, which passengers can take home, includes a 10-by-12-inch pillow and a fleece blanket, which fit into a carrying case. The kits also come with a $5 coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond. Now that it's selling the kit, JetBlue has done away with the pillows and blankets it used to let passengers use on flights for free.

Carl Icahn's WCI Communities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the home builder failed to get additional financing in the face of massive losses. Icahn, chairman of WCI's board, said the filing was necessary because the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based developer's entire $1.8 billion debt may soon be in default. He said this was confirmed when some holders of $125 million convertible notes insisted on being paid in cash in full Tuesday. WCI also fired Chief Executive Jerry L. Starkey and replaced him temporarily with David L. Fry.

Pulte Homes Incorporated's CEO says a new, temporary tax credit for first-time homebuyers signed into law last week is a "shot in the arm" to the housing industry and the builder will help promote it by offering a matching discount. Richard J. Dugas Jr., president and chief executive of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based builder, announced the plan Monday during a conference call with reporters. The housing stimulus law provides first-time homebuyers a $7,500 tax credit that amounts to an interest-free loan payable over 15 years. Dugas said his company would extend the matching discount to all buyers. Full details of the plan will be released Tuesday.

Motorola Inc. Monday said it had snagged Sanjay Jha, chief operating officer of Qualcomm Inc. and a star of the wireless industry, to head its handset division as it prepares to become an independent company. Jha will also be co-chief executive of the parent firm, sharing responsibility with incumbent Greg Brown. Brown will be responsible for Motorola's other two divisions. Goldman Sachs analysts Simona Jankowski and Thomas Lee called the recruitment of Jha, who was also president of the Qualcomm division that made chips for cell phones, "a big win" for Motorola and a loss for Qualcomm.

British Airways PLC, which is already in talks with Spain's Iberia SA over a combination, said Monday it hopes to seal an alliance with its U.S. partner American Airlines within weeks. BA spokesman Euan Fordyce said that the carrier expected final preparations for a deal to be completed within two weeks, and an application to U.S. regulators for antitrust immunity to be filed shortly afterward. BA and AMR's American, the world's largest carrier, have earlier failed to win exemption from U.S. competition laws to work more closely together because of their dominance at London's Heathrow, where they have most of the capacity to and from the United States.

Sony Corp. said it will invest about 40 billion yen ($372 million) to boost its output capacity of lithium-ion batteries amid growing global demand. On top of plans to increase production in Singapore and China, the Japanese consumer electronics company said it will build new facilities and enhance existing lines in Japan, hoping to expand output capacity to 74 million cells per month in 2010 from the current 41 million cells.

Dow Jones will launch two new indexes, the Global Dow and a blue-chip index for India, News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch announced Monday in India's financial capital, Mumbai. The Global Dow will track performance of a diverse basket of stocks, including companies from emerging markets, like India, and emerging industries, like alternative energy. Wall Street Journal editors will select the components of the Global Dow, as they now do with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 of the largest U.S. public companies.