Magellan, Lowrance to Merge

Magellan Corp. of Sunnyvale, Calif., will be combined with Lowrance Electronics of Tulsa, Okla., to create a $150-million firm that makes satellite-based navigational products, the companies said Friday. Lowrance shareholders would receive about $24.1 million, or $6.41 per share, in stock from Orbital Sciences Corp., Magellan’s Dulles, Va.-based parent company. The exact number of Orbital shares to be swapped will be determined by its price prior to the deal’s closing, expected later this year. Magellan created the first commercial hand-held global positioning system receiver in 1989, when the company was based in San Dimas. Lowrance shares rose 44 cents to close at $5.44 on Nasdaq; Orbital’s shares rose $2 to close at $21.31 on the New York Stock Exchange.