Signal Oil and Gas Co., having acquired companies in fields as diverse as aerospace (Garrett Corp.), trucking (Mack) and banking (Arizona Bancorporation), recently jested in advertisements that "we've thought of calling ourselves Signalgarrettmacktruckarizonabancorporation." While Signal does, in fact, plan to take on a new name that will better reflect its conglomerate status, that tongue twister will never doif only because the company would have to keep changing its letterheads. Last week, for instance, it might have become "Signalgarrettmacktruckarizonabancorporationallischalmers."
In a deal involving some $450 million in Signal stock, the Los Angeles oil company...