Ashland Inc. and Hercules Inc. have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Ashland would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hercules for $18.60 per share in cash and 0.093 of a share of Ashland common stock for each share of Hercules common stock. The total transaction value is approximately $3.3 billion, or $23.01 per Hercules share. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2008.      Upon the transaction’s close, Ashland will have pro forma combined revenue f...