Xidex Agrees to Buy Unit From Control Data

Struggling Control Data said Monday that Xidex, a Mountain View, Calif., firm, has agreed to buy most of its business products group for $55 million to $75 million. The unit makes disks and tapes for data storage.

A final agreement on the deal should be concluded by mid-December, Control Data said. The company said “the vast majority” of the affected division’s 2,000 employes will probably get job offers from Xidex.

Control Data spokesman Richard Reid said that more than 1,000 of the affected employees work overseas.

Those in this country work at plants in Lincoln and Omaha, Neb. The only piece of the business products group not being sold is a small overseas unit that makes business forms, Reid said.

Minneapolis-based Control Data divulged plans to sell the business- products group recently when it reported a third-quarter loss of $255.6 million, including a $153.8-million special charge related to the expected sale.