Datapoint Gets $100-Million Buy-Out Offer

Datapoint Chairman Asher B. Edelman, less than six months after obtaining controlling stock interest in the computer-manufacturing firm, has offered to take the company private with a $100-million leveraged buy-out.

Meanwhile, Datapoint’s service subsidiary, Intelogic Trace, said its board had rejected a $177-million buy-out proposal from TRW.

TRW offered $9.50 per share for 18.5 million shares of Intelogic stock in August, one week after Intelogic began regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Intelogic is a spinoff firm created after Edelman became chairman of the Datapoint board in March.

Intelogic also reported that negotiations for the acquisition of the computer service division of Mohawk Data Sciences had been terminated.

Edelman is chairman of the boards of Intelogic and Mohawk as well as Datapoint.

In announcing the leveraged buy-out proposal for Datapoint, the corporation said Edelman proposed merging the company with a corporation yet to be organized.

“Edelman and certain of his affiliates, together with Charles Stevenson Jr., a director of Datapoint, and certain other members of the board and management would be equity participants in the buy-out group,” a company news release said.

In response, Datapoint’s board voted to retain independent investment bankers to review the buy-out proposal.

Need Holders Approval

The company release said Edelman had retained Salomon Bros. to assist in arranging financing for the buy-out group.

Such a leveraged buy-out would have to be approved by the stockholders, who do not have a regularly scheduled meeting until November.

Edelman said when he purchased controlling stock in the corporation in March that it was possible that he would take the firm private after returning it to profitability.

Datapoint announced a $28-million loss in its third fiscal quarter this year. An earnings statement for the fourth quarter, which ended in late July, has not been released.

Concerning TRW’s takeover ofer of Intelogic, Edelman said in a prepared statement that the buy-out proposal was “highly conditional.”

Edelman said Intelogic’s investment bankers, Salomon Bros., advised the board that the TRW proposal was inadequate from a financial standpoint.

“However, the board wishes to provide to shareholders who desire to realize on their investment in Intelogic Trace stock at this time the opportunity to receive in exchange for their stock a package of securities having a value in excess of TRW’s offer and at a premium over recent share prices,” Edelman said.

The Intelogic board approved an exchange offer package of unsecured bonds and a new issue of preferred stock.

Edelman was unavailable for comment Wednesday, Datapoint officials said.