Also . . .

BA Merchant Services’ stockholders who sued to block BankAmerica Corp.’s $15.50-per-share buyout last year will be getting $20.50 per share, according to terms of a settlement. Charlotte, N.C.-based BankAmerica, the nation’s largest bank, said in October that it would buy the remaining one-third of the credit-card-processing company’s Class A common shares it didn’t already own for $15.50 each, or $252 million. It already owns all of BA Merchant’s Class B common stock. Shareholders filed three lawsuits in Delaware Chancery Court, saying the shares were worth more. After negotiations, the bank agreed to add $5 per share in a cash transaction valued at $333 million. A hearing for approval of the settlement is scheduled for March 18.

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Southland Corp. plans to change its name to 7-Eleven Inc., giving the company the familiar name it has used for its convenience stores since 1946. The Dallas-based company, which owns the 7-Eleven chain with 18,200 stores operated and franchised worldwide, said taking the name will raise the company’s profile and reflect its strict focus on convenience stores.

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FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., a troubled home-equity lender, said one of its wholly owned subsidiaries and a company owned by that subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a bid to survive after funding dried up. FirstPlus Financial Inc., the wholly owned subsidiary, and FirstPlus Special Funding Corp., which was created to facilitate a financing from Germany’s Deutsche Bank, made the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas. The parent company, Dallas-based FirstPlus Financial, and its other units have not sought bankruptcy protection. The parent’s problems surfaced last year when it reported a third-quarter loss of $82 million following emerging-market country defaults and currency devaluations that cut investor demand for high-risk, asset-backed bonds.