Also. . .

WD-40 Co. said it agreed to acquire the Lava brand of heavy-duty hand cleaners from Block Drug Co. for undisclosed terms. San Diego-based WD-40, which makes WD-40 and other brands of multipurpose lubricants, said the purchase will be financed with a credit facility from Union Bank of California. Jersey City, N.J.-based Block Drug’s other brands include Sensodyne toothpaste, Polident denture cleanser and over-the-counter health-care products such as Beano.

*

Mitsubishi Electric Corp., the latest victim of Japan’s prolonged recession, plans to cut 10% of its global work force in an effort to stem growing losses. Mitsubishi, one of Japan’s biggest electronics makers, said it would eliminate 14,500 jobs over the next three years. The cuts would trim 8,400 jobs in Japan by the end of March 2002 and 6,100 jobs overseas. Mitsubishi, which makes everything from semiconductors to nuclear power plants, employs 146,000 people worldwide. It is the latest in a series of cutbacks for corporate Japan as companies struggle through the country’s deepest postwar recession. Job cuts of similar magnitude were recently announced by NEC Corp. and Sony Corp.--two other Japanese electronics behemoths.