Titan Corp. to Acquire Defense Firm

Continuing its restructuring, Titan Corp. on Monday announced an agreement in principle to acquire Aeronautical Research Associates of Princeton, N.J., a high-technology defense industry company with revenues last year of about $4 million.

La Jolla-based Titan, which in June merged with Electronic Memories & Magnetics Corp. of Encino, reported 1984 revenues of $111.9 million. Titan has 1,800 employees at plants around the world and generates most of its revenue from computer memory systems and components for the armed forces.

Aeronautical Research Associates offers expertise in armor systems development, meteorology and control of missiles, and underwater systems, a spokesman said.

“The acquisition gives Titan a technology that it needed (and) it fits in very well,” said Jim Horan, an analyst with Dillon, Read & Co. in New York. “Titan has decided to use acquisitions for growth, so I won’t be surprised to see several more acquisitions.”

Titan will use internally generated cash to finance the transaction, according to Senior Vice President Rolf Erickson, who said Titan expects to complete the transaction Jan. 31.

Aeronautical Research Associates’ technology will give Titan an ability to compete for a wider range of military and industrial contracts, Erickson said.