SCOTTS VALLEY, CA-Disc drive manufacturer Seagate Technology LLC is acquiring fellow drive manufacturer Maxtor Corp. (Milpitas, CA) in a transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion.

ST. LOUIS-DaimlerChrysler Group (Stuttgart, Germany) has announced that it will invest up to $1 billion in its St. Louis North and St. Louis South assembly plants to retool and modernize the facilities.

NORWALK, CT-Reed Exhibitions is selling its portfolio of North American industrial and manufacturing trade shows, including Assembly Technology Expo (ATExpo), held each fall in Chicago and sponsored by ASSEMBLY magazine.

TOKYO-Engelberger Robotics Awards were presented to four industry leaders at last week's 36th International Symposium on Robotics.

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, MI-Robert Bosch Corp. has begun constructing a new Technical Center here. The center, which sits on 76 acres, will cost $37.5 million and enclose 225,000 square feet.

Ann Arbor, MI-North American robotics companies are on pace for a record year, with domestic orders up 30 percent in the first 9 months of 2005.

LOHR, Germany-Drive and control company Bosch Rexroth Corp. has acquired Nyquist BV (Eindhoven, Netherlands), which specializes in motion control applications in the semiconductor and medical manufacturing industries.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-The Malaysia Star is reporting that a Japanese factory manager died after a robotic arm knocked him on the head.