AEROSPACE

General Signal Chief Holds to Reliance Bid: Edmund Carpenter, chairman of General Signal Corp., said his company has no plans to raise its offer to buy Reliance Electric Co. for $1.4 billion in stock, despite Rockwell International Corp.’s rival bid of $1.5 billion cash. General Signal’s proposed tax-free stock swap and the lack of antitrust considerations make its merger with Reliance more attractive, Carpenter said in an interview. Seal Beach-based Rockwell is seeking Reliance’s industrial motors business to complement its industrial-automation systems.