Also. . .

* Gillette Co., the world’s largest maker of razors and blades, agreed to sell its Paper Mate, Parker and Waterman pens businesses, after their sales and profit fell last year, to Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Terms weren’t disclosed. The maker of Mach3 razors and Duracell batteries said the sale includes its Liquid Paper correction-fluid unit. The acquisition is the largest by Newell, which makes office products including Berol pens, since the company bought Rubbermaid Inc. in March 1999 for $6 billion. Analysts estimated the selling price for Gillette’s pen businesses at $600 million. On the NYSE, Gillette shares rose $1.31 to close at $31.13 and Newell rose 50 cents to close at $26.

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* Bank One Corp. said Verne Istock, its president and former chairman, will retire in September, six months after he hired James Dimon to run the No. 4 U.S. bank. Bank One won’t replace Istock, according to bank spokesman Thomas Kelly. Dimon will continue as chairman and chief executive, with Vice Chairman William Boardman and 12 other managers reporting to him.

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* The International Monetary Fund’s lending this year is headed for a 12-year low, with economies from Mexico to Thailand rebounding, and Korea and Brazil turning down further loans, IMF data shows. The fund lent about $3.2 billion in the first seven months of the year to Ecuador, Indonesia and other nations pursuing IMF-backed economic programs. That’s down from $8.1 billion in just the first six months of last year, when Asian, Eastern European and Latin American economies were reeling from capital flight and a debt crunch that had sent many hurtling into recession.

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* The pace of new office construction fell 27% in July for the third time in four months, damping concerns about overbuilding, according to a Salomon Smith Barney Inc. report. Construction began on some 219 million square feet of office space last month, on an annualized basis, Salomon said, citing statistics compiled by F.W. Dodge, a division of the McGraw-Hill Cos. The most active market for office development in July was Washington, D.C., followed by Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago and Northern California.

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