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D2 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1997 LOS ANGELES TIMES 11 TPfTS Spotlight: Utah-based Zions Bancorp to Acquire FP Bancorp News and Insight on Business in the Golden State Stepping up its expansion in California, Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorp agreed to buy Escondido-based FP Bancorp for about $90 millioa Each FP share will be exchanged for 0.627 Zions share, a value of $27.27 based on Zions closing price Monday. That is a 17 premium over FFs Monday close of $23.38. FP is the holding company for First Pacific National Bank, which has $359 million in assets in San Diego and Riverside counties. Earlier this year, Zions bought San Diego-based GB Bancorp for $173 million. TTsnu lJUUU Retargeted Taco Bell Ads Are Underfoot THE STATE price on a popular item for a limited time," Gannon said.

"But we won't always be using him to promote discounts. There could also be new-product introductions or general promotions." The 30-second ad and four upcoming commercials created by Venice-based TBWA ChlatDay seem to put to rest rumors that Taco Bell isn't satisfied with the ad agency's work. In a news release issued Monday, Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer Vada Hill described the Chihuahua ads as "just the kind of breakthrough advertising that we challenged TBWA ChiatDay to create. This spot was creatively right on the mark." The quirky dog first appeared in July as a bit player in a series of harder-edged commercials aimed squarely at teenagers. The new ads are designed to appeal both to teens as well as 20-to-30-year-olds who buy fast food.

Taco Bell, a subsidiary of Louisville, Tricon Global Restaurant has 4,700 locations nationwide. The chain recently reported its third consecutive quarter of improved sales at stores open for at least a year, an important measure in the restaurant and retailing industries. Fast food: TV campaign is aimed at rmales 18 to 34. Burger King, meanwhile, is offering treats. By GREG JOHNSON TIMES STAFF WRITER Can a big-eyed Chihuahua with an appetite for Mexican-style fare help to beef up fast-food sales? Taco Bell Corp.

is betting that a new string of television ads featuring an undeniably cute dog will help draw more core customers males between the ages of 18 and 34. The Irvine-based company on Monday unveiled the first of five new ads featuring the Chihuahua, which joined the company's ad campaign in July. In the commercial, the dog ignores an ersatz Elvis and a female Chihuahua to confront a man munching some Taco Bell fare. The dog delivers his line, "Yo quiero Taco Bell," with an English-language subtitle, "I want some Taco Bell." Meanwhile, fast-food competitor Burger King said it will give away French fries to consumers who enter its stores on Friday. The A Spanish-speaking Chihuahua has graduated from a Taco Bell bit player to star of its new commercials, which contain English subtitle.

giveaway is part of Burger King's ongoing war with fast-food leader McDonald's. Burger King said the cost of the fries giveaway will probably exceed the price of a 1995 Taco Bell giveaway that industry analysts pegged at about $12 million. Taco Bell's new ad offers a dis count on a Mexican pizza to consumers who buy a large soft drink. Taco Bell spokeswoman Laurie Gannon said the Chihuahua won't always be used to pitch price discounts a practice that can sap profit even though it sometimes helps build revenue. "This ad features a value Cedar Fair Completes Knott's Deal 4" TECHNOLOGY Rockwell Chairman Gets $1 Bonus Donald R.

Beall, chairman of Costa Mesa-based Rockwell International received a special bonus of $1.25 million in recognition of his "pivotal role" in transforming the company, Rockwell said in a regulatory filing. The special payment was part of a compensation package that Beall received for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1997, Rockwell said in a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 1997 payments represent a 39 increase from the $3.51 million Beall got in 1996. Beall, 59, retired as chief executive on Sept.

30, after serving as chairman and CEO since February 1988. Beall plans to step down as chairman after the company's coming annual meeting, scheduled for Feb. 4. The board compensation committee awarded Beall the bonus in recognition of his pivotal role in guiding the transformation of Rockwell "from a broadly diversified concern into an enterprise sharply focused on commercial electronics markets," the filing said. Steps taken under Beall included the sale of Rockwell's aerospace and defense business to Boeing Co.

in 1996. In 1997, the company completed the spinoff of its automotive component systems business into a separately traded public company named Meritor Automotive Inc. Beall received $1 million in salary for his efforts last year. His annual cash bonus was $2.25 million in fiscal 1997. (Bbomberg News) CS to Sell Wireless Billing Unit to ITDS International Telecommunication Data Systems Inc.

agreed to buy Computer Sciences wireless telephone billing unit for $100 million to expand its services for the fast-growing wireless industry. ITDS said it will pay Computer Sciences $90 million in cash and $10 million in ITDS shares, giving Computer Sciences a stake of about 4 in ITDS. ITDS, which offers billing services for long-distance, wireless and satellite phone companies, is moving to beef up its wireless billing services in response to growing demand for the phone services. Shares of Stamford, ITDS rose $1.25 to close at $24 on Nasdaq, and El Segundo-based Computer Sciences' shares rose 19 cents to close at $78.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Bloomberg News) Onsale Shares Rise 20 on Disk Drive Sales Onsale Inc.

shares rose 16 after the Internet computer products retailer said it sold more than $1 million of disk drives in less than a month through an auction on the Web. The shares rose $2.31 to close at $16.44 on Nasdaq. Onsale said the disk drives were heavy-duty models originally intended for industrial file servers. They were manufactured by Mlcropolls which is operating under. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Onsale spokeswoman Stefanie Elkins said the five models of disk drives sold for an average price of $350 each. Under Mountain View-based Onsale's auction format, Internet users may continue to bid on merchandise until a specified deadline. (Bloomberg News) IBM Surpasses Record in Disk Drive Volume IBM Corp. is expected to announce today that its scientists have doubled their own record in hard-disk information storage, getting more than 11 billion bits in a square inch of disk space. That means that every square inch of disk space can hold 1,450 average-sized novels, or more than 725,000 double-spaced typewritten pages, a stack taller than an 18-story building.

Getting more information in the same amount of disk space is important because it lets disk drive manufacturers lower costs. Increasing storage density also lets companies make disk drives that are lighter and consume less energy. During the last six years, the average data-storage capacity of disk drives sold worldwide has increased 18-fold, while the price per megabyte has dropped 52-fold, IBM said. A byte is eight bits. A megabyte is a million bytes.

A bit is the smallest unit of memory. IBM made the advances at its Almaden Research Center in San Jose. The company's scientists succeeded in getting 5 billion bits on a square inch in December 1996. Bbomberg News) COMPANY TOWN ANNEX Viacom, Time Warner Complete Sale of Chain Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc.

completed the sale of Cinamerica Theaters, their jointly owned movie-theater chain, to a group including Warburg, Plncus Ventures for about $166 million. Cinamerica operates 62 theaters with 374 screens, primarily in California and Colorado. Its properties include the Mann Theater chain and the landmark Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The sale was announced in November. The theaters were bought by WestStar Holdings a joint venture of investment firm Warburg, Pincus and Jeffrey Lewine, former president of Pittsburgh-based theater chain Cinema World.

Viacom still has strong ties to the movie-theater industry. The company is controlled by Chairman Sumner Redstone's National Amusements theater chain, which bought 83 of Viacom for $3.4 billion in 1987. Viacom also owns Famous Players, which has 112 theaters with 511 screens in Canada. The company's interests also include the Paramount Pictures movie studio, cable-TV channels and Blockbuster Entertainment Group. Time Warner, based in New York, said in November it's selling its stake in Cinamerica because it's not part of the media company's main business, which includes the Warner Bros, movie studio.

Bbomberg News) a 1 ins w1 it as 'T ift Urn 'ML, ft By DARYL STRICKLAND TIMES STAFF WRITER Ending an era of family ownership, Knott's Berry Farm was acquired Monday for $245 million by Cedar Fair, an Ohio-based amusement company that is expected to add more thrill rides at the nation's first theme park so it can better compete against larger rivals. The purchase price, about twice Knott's annual revenue, was a lower ratio than some other recent acquisitions in the industry, analysts said. But the trade-off is that Knott family members will retain influence in a well-regarded company that has reinvested more than $230 million in its properties over the past decade. "I think it makes a lot of sense for Cedar Fair; they got a good price," said Steven Bernard, vice president of Everen Securities a Chicago-based brokerage firm that follows Cedar Fair. He noted that the company is well-known for installing roller coasters.

"They know how to run a good theme park. They should be able to add to the mix of rides, generating higher attendance. And they'll get some better economies of scale, improving profit margins by eliminating duplication," he said. Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership on the New York Stock Exchange that owns theme parks Cedar Point, located on Lake Erie between Toledo, Ohio, and Cleveland; Valleyfair near Minneapolis; Dorney Park Wildwater Kingdom near Allen-town, and World of Fun and MARK BOSTEH Lot Angela Times Cedar Fair will continue with plans for opening a $24-million roller coaster at the theme park in 1999. Added to that were 6.4 million limited partnership units, valued at $23.34 per share, for a total of $150 million.

With that combined block of units, Knott family members enjoy the largest controlling interest in Cedar Fair. Knott's will be managed by Jack Falfas, who was vice president of operations at Cedar Point. "They're very pleased in their search for a strategic partner," said Terry Hackett, a Knott family representative who was placed on the board of directors of Cedar Fair Management Co. "They believe Cedar Fair will do well, and that the companies complement each other a great deal." for a new wooden roller coaster, expected to be a major attraction when it opens in 1999 at a reported cost of $24 million. "It has been our practice to invest heavily in our parks, and to continue what has been established," said Cedar Fair spokesman Brian Witherow, who added that $38 million would be spent on Cedar Fair's other properties this year.

"The park is in great shape physically, and it's a great draw. It's different from our other parks in there are not as many thrill rides," he said. Cedar Fair's purchase price, which was the company's biggest since going public in 1987, consisted of $95 million in cash. Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Mo. Its stock closed at $25.69, down 19 cents per share on 29,900 shares traded.

Knott's, based in Buena Park, represents Cedar Fair's first year-round theme park, and competes against other attractions in Southern California such as Universal Studios, Hollywood and Disneyland that can afford to pay $100 million for a single ride. In fact, Disneyland plans to open its new "gate," California Adventure, at its Anaheim park in 2001 at an estimated cost of $1.4 billion. There are no changes planned for Knott's this year, including the admission price, executives said, and plans remain on track Microsoft Corp. acquired a 32.4 investment stake in Digital Sound according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft said it now has 6.67 million shares of the Carpinteria-based company for investment purposes.

HP to Buy Defibrillator Maker in Stock Swap Surgical Robotic Arm Gets OK I'DILBERT EACH PHOTON 15 A THEN MASS TS JUST A PROBABILITY I (THAT'S HOLO I From Bloomberg News Computer Motion Inc. on Monday said it won U.S. regulatory approval for a voice-activated robotic arm used in minimally invasive heart surgery, sending the company's shares up 45. The robotic arm controls a specially designed tube linked to a camera that allows a surgeon to see what's happening during a heart operation on a monitor without having to crack open the patient's chest. The robotic device, called the Aesop 3000, is operated by the surgeon using simple verbal commands and provides more control and stability than hand-held versions, the company said.

"For the next decade, there's going to be a much greater use for robotic and computer equipment" in medicine, said Leonard Yaffe, an analyst at NationsBanc Montgomery Securities. "This is one of the companies that's at the vanguard." The Goleta-based surgical systems company's shares rose $3.69 to close at $11.81 in Nasdaq trading. determined by dividing $11 by the average closing price of HP stock for the five trading days before the close of the deal. An HP spokeswoman said the total value of the deal ranges from $135 million to $145 million, assuming 11.8 million Heartstream shares outstanding and the exercise of 1.8 million options. "Combining Heartstream's technology and ForeRunner products with HP's current family of external defibrillators will allow us to strengthen our commitment to the cardiac chain of survival," Stephen Rusckowski, general manager of HP's cardiology products division, said in a statement.

When the deal is completed, Heartstream is expected to become part of HP's cardiology products division. Heartstream's stock lost $1.13 to close at $10.75 on Nasdaq; Hewlett-Packard gained 56 cents to close at $60.94 in New York Stock Exchange trading. From Reuters Hewlett-Packard Co. bolstered its cardiac defibrillator unit Monday with an agreement to acquire Heartstream Inc. in a stock swap valued at $135 million to $145 million.

Heartstream is a Seattle-based maker of automated external defibrillators, which are battery-powered gadgets to return an irregularly beating heart to normal. Hewlett-Packard, best known as a giant in the computer product and peripheral industry, is a leading provider of manual defibrillators. Heartstream's defibrillator, called the ForeRunner, is designed to be portable and easy to use. It is geared toward people who receive minimal training in emergency health care, such as police, airline cabin attendants and industrial first-aid teams. Palo Alto-based HP has been selling its manual defibrillators, such as its Codemaster products, to HAVE WU BEEN TALKING TO OUPn GARBAGE MAN (JOGJ! I THINK.

TINY SKULL IS SO FULL ITS GOING TO EXPLOOE. AGAIN? DON'T GET TOO CLOSE. LET KEGET A TARPAULIN. I I 1 ni Under the exchange formula, Heartstream shareholders will receive HP stock with a value to be hospitals and clinics. It recently expanded to pre-hospital markets, such as paramedics..