AUTOS

Morton Air Bag Unit to Merge With Swedish Company: Morton International Inc.’s plan to combine its automotive products business with Autoliv of Sweden would create the world’s largest air bag maker, with more than $3 billion in sales. The two companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal. They plan to form a separate company in which Autoliv’s shareholders would own 53.5% and Morton shareholders 46.5%. The combination would strengthen Autoliv’s position in the U.S. and Japan, where Chicago-based Morton’s Automotive Safety Products unit is already well-established. Morton makes about half the air bag components sold in the U.S., accounting for $1.4 billion in annual sales. Autoliv is Europe’s leading maker of air bags and other safety equipment, with about $1.5 billion in sales.