Also...

* DaimlerChrysler Vice President Cynthia Hess, the auto maker’s highest-ranking female engineer, quit to join investment firm Heartland Industrial Partners. Hess, 43, will be a partner at closely held Heartland, working to improve the profitability of any automotive suppliers acquired by the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company.

* Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and Air Liquide offered to sell BOC Group’s U.S. operations to win Federal Trade Commission approval of their $12.9-billion acquisition of BOC--the world’s No. 2 industrial gas producer, people familiar with the talks said. The offer prompted the five-member commission to cancel a meeting today at which it had been expected to vote in favor of a suit to block the transaction, the sources said.

* Planet Hollywood International Inc., with 66 entertainment-themed restaurants worldwide, said it emerged from bankruptcy court protection after canceling about $282 million in debt. The Orlando, Fla.-based company filed Chapter 11 petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., in October, citing about $392 million in assets and $359 million in liabilities. Under the reorganization plan approved in January, about 70% of the shares of new stock will be held by a group of investors organized by Robert Earl, chairman and chief executive, while the rest will be distributed to former bondholders.