This is just in this a.m.:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Handgun maker Smith & Wesson says it not for sale
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. handgun maker Smith & Wesson on Monday denied a British newspaper report that it is being put up for sale by its parent company, the British conglomerate Tomkins Plc.
``I am told that the people at Tomkins were very surprised at the story because we are not for sale,'' Ken Jorgensen, a spokesman for Smith & Wesson, told Reuters.
The Financial Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that Tomkins had decided
to sell Springfield, Mass.-based Smith & Wesson, one of the oldest and best-known small arms makers in the world, and that a sale might realize more than $160 million.
Tomkins, whose other businesses include a car parts manufacturer and a bread maker, had no comment on the report.
Jorgensen said Tomkins may eventually decide to sell the gun maker but that no talks are in the works. ``Everything is for sale at a price, so to say that we would never, ever be sold would certainly not be a very smart statement,'' he said. ``But it is not something that is in the works.''
He added, ``What may have happened (with the newspaper report) is that Tomkins has been refocusing the company in a couple of specific areas -- building materials and automotive industry. And I kind of wonder if
someone didn't put two and two together and get six, thinking that Smith & Wesson isn't either of those, and therefore they must be for sale.''[/quote]
B