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Takeover to Cost Most Employees Their Jobs : Informatics’ Headquarters to Shut

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Times Staff Writer

Victorious in its hard-fought takeover battle, Sterling Software will close the Woodland Hills headquarters of Informatics General Corp. 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. “Most people are going to be laid off.” Informatics’ software operation 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.

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Bauer was traveling in Europe and could not be reached for comment.

Bulk of Layoffs in October

Hayes said that 15 employees were given a few days’ notice and worked their last day Friday, receiving double severance pay. Most of the remaining staff members at Informatics’ headquarters will be dismissed by the end of October, she said.

Samuel Wyly, board chairman of Sterling, said 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 building, 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 Informatics and Sterling. He noted that Sterling’s headquarters staff in Dallas consists of just nine people, including secretaries.

Wyly said several Informatics executives will be offered jobs at Sterling headquarters, but not many because Sterling prides itself on running a lean operation.

2 VPs to Stay On

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 mixture of high-yield debt and preferred stock. The tender offer is scheduled to close Aug. 7, Wyly said.

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Founded in 1962, Informatics is primarily a business software company, but also sells complete computer systems.

The company showed strong sales but slim profits last year, and was a lackluster performer on Wall Street, where its lack of heavy debt helped make it an attractive takeover target.

Informatics, which has about 2,600 employees worldwide, had profits of $4.7 million on sales of $191.2 million last year.

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