Also. . .

* Raleigh, N.C.-based Carolina Power & Light Co. said it will acquire Florida Progress Corp. for $5.3 billion, creating the nation’s ninth-largest electric utility.

* Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, France’s second-largest water company, will buy the rest of United Water Resources Inc. for $1 billion in cash plus $800 million in assumed debt, as it tries to match the expansion of bigger rival Vivendi.

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* Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. said its first-quarter earnings rose 8.2% as strong sales of cardiac rhythm management products offset weaker-than-expected sales of coronary stents, used to prop open clogged blood vessels. Minneapolis-based Medtronic, the No. 1 maker of implantable biomedical devices, said net earnings in the three months ended July 30 rose to $248 million, or 42 cents a share, from $229 million or 39 cents, on a restated basis a year ago. Revenue climbed 11% to $1.1 billion from $991.7 million.

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* Conglomerate Textron Inc., maker of Cessna planes, Bell helicopters and golf carts, said that it agreed to buy construction equipment maker OmniQuip International Inc. for $308 million, and assume $169 million in debt. In June, OmniQuip, which makes equipment that builders use to hoist heavy loads of bricks and other construction equipment, said it would cut 200 jobs after third-quarter earnings fell short of expectations due to flat sales.

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* Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc., a Durango, Colo.-based candy store retailer, said it will be bought by closely held Whitman Candies Inc. for $16.3 million, after Whitman boosted its earlier bid nearly 9%.

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* Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, said it will buy closely held United National Group to boost its presence in the U.S. commercial insurance market. Terms weren’t disclosed. Munich Re’s Princeton, N.J.-based unit American Re Corp. will buy American Insurance Service Inc., the holding company that owns United National.

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* CSK Auto Corp., which has more than 900 auto parts stores in the Western U.S., agreed to buy two units from Paccar Inc. for $143.2 million in cash to boost its position as the West’s leading auto parts retailer.

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* Rocky Aoki, founder of the Benihana Japanese restaurant chain, pleaded guilty to profiting from a tip that Spectrum Information Technologies Inc. was about to hire former Apple Computer Inc. chief John Sculley. The 60-year-old restaurateur was charged last year with insider trading by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, N.Y. His plea on four criminal counts of insider trading makes him eligible for a reduced prison sentence of 12 to 18 months, instead of a maximum of 10 years, prosecutors said.

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