MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Hachette Agrees to Merge With Matra: The French media group said it would merge with its sister company, Matra, a defense and transport group, creating a conglomerate with about 50,000 employees and $9.6 billion in revenue. The merger is part of a huge reorganization of the media and defense empire of French businessman Jean-Luc Lagardere, who is chairman of both companies and controls their holding company, MMB. The combined Matra-Hachette group will be split into nine operating divisions--space, defense, cars, transport, telecommunications, distribution services, press, books and audio-visual.