March 5/PRNewswire-AsiaNet ABBOTT PAYS CASH FOR KNOLL... ABBOTT PARK: Abbott Laboratories today said it has acquired BASF's pharmaceutical business, which includes the global operations of Knoll, for $6.9 billion in cash. VOTE TO GO AHEAD... HOUSTON: Apache Corporation today applauded a New Zealand Court decision rejecting Peak-Greymouth's request to postpone the March 6 Fletcher Challenge Limited shareholder vote on Shell-Apache's offer to purchase Fletcher Challenge Energy. EXTREME BUYS WEBSTACKS... SANTA CLARA: Extreme Networks, broadband networking solutions provider, today said it had signed an agreement to acquire WebStacks, Inc., a privately-held company developing data center technology, in order to cope with new demands on website performance. WORLD?S LARGEST FACILITY... CLEVELAND: GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc. today announced plans to construct the world?s largest gallium metal extraction facility in Pinjarra, Western Australia at a cost of $US 40 million. MAN JUMPS FROM SPACE... SYDNEY: Australian ex-commando, Rodd Miller, will jump from space and parachute 130,000 feet (40,000 metres) back to earth, hoping to become the first person to break the sound barrier, unaided. NEW TRAVEL AGENT TOOL... WASHINGTON: Universal Air Travel Plan, Inc., and Ansett Australia, have announced the launch of Ansett Travel Account (ATA) - a complete range of travel management tools for travel agents. NEW SITE FOR ASIAN MEDIA... HONG KONG: PR Newswire Asia today announced that all journalists in the Asia Pacific region now have access to the vast Internet resources of PR Newswire, enabling them to receive valuable information from Asian companies directly through its new web site at http://www.prnewswireasia.com. TOSHIBA UNVEILS BLUETOOTH.... TOKYO: Toshiba Corporation today launched a Bluetooth baseband LSI (Large Scale Integration),to further enhance the stability and performance of Bluetooth networking. (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated press releases for worldwide clients. Contact: www.asianet.com.au for full-text versions).ASIANET