Wilson Laboratories Agrees to Be Acquired

Wilson Laboratories Inc., a privately held maker of testing equipment for computer peripheral products based in Orange, has entered into an agreement in principle to be acquired by Applied Magnetics Corp., a maker of magnetic recording heads based in Goleta.

The terms of the purchase were not disclosed, but a press release issued by Applied Magnetics said the terms involved an exchange of stock.

A spokesman said the Wilson plant will remain at the Orange site because “property values are more favorable here.” He said there are no plans to lay off any of the approximately 70 employees.

The spokesman also said Applied Magnetics recently bought Brumco, a Nebraska company that reconditions magnetic heads.

Wilson, which was founded in 1973 by Randall R. Wilson, has grown at an annual rate of about 50%, according to a company release. For the first half of this year, Wilson had unaudited revenues of $7 million.