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San Francisco-based Il Fornaio America Corp., operator of 13 Italian restaurants, plans to sell 1.5 million common shares in an initial public offering, according to an SEC filing. . . . San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. formed an alliance with Hitachi Ltd. of Japan to make and sell wireless communications equipment for local networks based on Qualcomm’s code division multiple access technology. . . . Santa Clara-based 3Com Corp.’s third-quarter earnings rose to $87.6 million, or 47 cents a share, from $74.6 million, or 42 cents, a year ago, beating analyst expectations by a penny. . . . Redwood City-based California Microwave Inc. named Gen. Al Gray, a former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, its new chairman, replacing company founder David Leeson. . . . Loral Space & Communications Ltd. received an order from Intelsat for communications satellites valued at as much as $600 million. The New York company’s Palo Alto-based Space Systems unit will initially build two satellites under the contract.