Sterling to Shut Headquarters of Informatics
Victorious in its hard-fought battle to take over Informatics General, Sterling Software will close that company’s Woodland Hills headquarters and lay off nearly all of the 65 employees there.
“The basic situation is they’re consolidating all the corporate headquarters into Sterling in Dallas,” Informatics spokeswoman Carol Hayes said Tuesday, adding that some cutbacks had been expected. “Most people are going to be laid off.” Informatics’ software production facility in Canoga Park, which employs about 330, will not be affected, Hayes said.
Among those leaving the company is Informatics founder and Chairman Walter Bauer, Hayes said. Bauer was traveling in Europe and could not be reached for comment.
Hayes said that 15 employees worked their last day Friday, dismissed after only a few days’ notice but with double severance pay, and that most remaining headquarters staffers will be let go by the end of October.
Will Sell Building
Sterling Chairman Samuel Wyly said that he has already struck a deal to sell the building that Informatics was planning to use as its new corporate headquarters, but he declined to discuss details. The 90,000-square-foot facility, at Topanga Canyon and Burbank boulevards in Woodland Hills, is in the final stages of construction.
Wyly said the shutdown of Informatics’ headquarters reflects a basic difference in management styles between the companies. He noted that Sterling’s headquarters staff in Dallas consists of just nine people, including secretaries.
Wyly said few Informatics executives will be offered jobs at Sterling headquarters because Sterling prides itself on running lean.
Two Informatics executive vice presidents, Richard Lemons and James Porter, will stay on in California to run the company as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sterling, Wyly said.
Informatics’ board of directors last month agreed to accept a $27-per-share takeover bid from Sterling. The Dallas company is arranging financing for the $140-million deal using a mix of high-yield debt and preferred stock. The tender offer is scheduled to close Aug. 7, Wyly said.
