General Cinema said it paid the equivalent...

General Cinema said it paid the equivalent of $136.5 million for 46.5 million shares of London-based Cadbury Schweppes’ 570 million shares outstanding . . . William Cos. has tentatively agreed to sell its Agrico Chemical Co. fertilizer subsidiary to Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners in New Orleans for about $250 million in cash . . . New York-based Banner Industries said it had signed a definitive agreement to pay about $525 million for an 80% stake in manufacturer Rexnord Inc. . . . Bristol Composite Materials Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BP North America Inc., said it has completed the purchase of Hitco, the Newport Beach subsidiary of Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., for $240 million in cash . . . Hughes Tool Co. reported that the number of working oil and gas rigs in the United States dropped this week to 837, down 49 from a week ago. Last year at this time the count totaled 1,671.