Top of the Morning – Dee Dee Ricks, Mattel Buys HIT for $680M

With some $4.2 billion in cash, Juniper Networks Inc. is looking at potential acquisition targets in Asia, its top executive said in an interview. Kevin Johnson, chief executive of the U.S. telecommunications-networking systems provider, said the company is interested in buying firms that would enable it to offer systems tied to mobile Internet and cloud computing. “Certainly if there are interesting opportunities that have strategic alignment with what we are doing and make economic sense, we’re very open to [mergers and acquisitions] and companies in Asia,” he said.

PMI Subsidiary Seized by Insurance Regulators in AZ (WSJ)

Olympus Investigates Past Acquisitions (WSJ)

Olympus Corp. said Friday it will set up an independent committee to look into the company’s past acquisitions, in a significant concession to shareholder demands for greater transparency. The move comes a day after some of the Japanese camera maker’s biggest investors called for a probe into a series of deals done between 2006 and 2008, whose steep price tags and multi-million-dollar adviser payments raised red flags with Olympus’ newly appointed chief executive, Michael Woodford. Mr. Woodford was fired last week, after threatening to confront the board on the matter; Olympus’ shares subsequently plunged, losing half their value since Oct. 13. The company said it had removed Mr. Woodford due to “major differences in management style.”

Copper’s New Role as Germ Fighter (WSJ)

A study that showed copper kills bacteria on contact points to an expansion of possible uses for the industrial metal, which is already found in a range of products. The prospect of hospitals around the world installing copper surfaces, amid other applications of the metal, have copper producers predicting an increase in demand. However, efforts to use more copper in medical environments are still largely in the research stage, and it’s unclear whether a significant increase in consumption of the metal will result.

Virgin America Facing Unionization (WSJ)

The Transport Workers Union on Monday is slated to petition the government to call a representation election in which the union hopes to win the right to represent 650 flight attendants at discounter Virgin America. Virgin America, a Burlingame, Calif., company with a hub in San Francisco, has 2,100 employees and is entirely nonunion. Richard Branson’sVirgin Group of the U.K. has a 25% voting stake and a 49% economic interest in the company.

Hedge Fund Consultant Dee Dee Ricks’ Battle with Cancer (Businessweek)