Sale of AlliedSignal Unit May Be Near

AlliedSignal Inc. may sell its laminates business in the next couple of weeks, one analyst said, as the 10th-largest aerospace company prunes a business that it says doesn’t fit anymore. Laminates are used as the base material for printed circuit boards. The business has been less profitable, with margins of about 3.5%, than similar divisions at AlliedSignal, analysts said. “We believe the laminates divestiture is very close to completion and could be formally announced within the next couple of weeks,” Prudential Securities analyst Todd Ernst wrote after meeting Monday with AlliedSignal Chairman and Chief Executive Lawrence Bossidy. AlliedSignal, based in Morris Township, N.J., said it plans to sell the La Crosse, Wis.-based division, which had sales of $425 million last year, or possibly take the option of a joint venture. It said a sale isn’t imminent. Arch Chemicals Inc., based in Norwalk, Conn., and Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries Inc. are potential buyers, said Jim Wilbur, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney Inc. AlliedSignal shares rose $1.69 to close at $46.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.