Also

* Pacific Gas & Electric Co. received California regulatory approval to build a power plant, refurbish another and purchase electricity from suppliers including Calpine Corp. Under the plan, Pacific Gas, a unit of San Francisco-based PG&E; Corp., will build a 660-megawatt plant in Colusa County and refurbish its Humboldt Bay Power Plant.

* Wells Fargo & Co. of San Francisco, the biggest bank on the West Coast, agreed to buy Dallas-based EFC Partners to boost loans to small and mid-sized companies in Texas. Terms weren’t disclosed.

* Apple Computer Inc. sought patent protection for a device that combines a mobile phone with its iPod music player as speculation intensified that the Cupertino, Calif., company might sell a so-called iPhone.

* Mexico City-based Grupo Modelo plans to build a $520-million brewery in the northern Mexican town of Nava to help it keep pace with growing demand for its Corona beer in the U.S.