FRANCE APPROVES WATERMAN ACQUISITION BY GILLETTE

  Gillette Co &lt;GS> exercised an option to
  take a 51.2 pct stake in the French pen firm Waterman which it
  had previously been authorised to do by the French government,
  the French stockbrokers' association (CSAC) said.
      Gillette has given an undertaking to intervene on the
  Bourse until April 7 to prevent Waterman shares from falling
  below 650 francs, it added.
      This compares with yesterday's rate of 625 francs.
      Under the agreement concluded last November between
  Waterman owners Francine and Grace Le Foyer-Gomez and Alice
  Lundgren and the Gillette group, Gillette agreed to acquire
  51.2 pct of the capital of Waterman at 700 francs a share.
      Gillette is buying a total 180,000 shares, valuing the deal
  at 126 mln francs.
  

