Edelman Leads a $872-Million Telex Bid
An investor group led by Asher B. Edelman is offering $65 a share to acquire Telex Corp. in a cash transaction with an indicated value of about $872 million, the group announced Thursday.
The group, which already holds about 1.188 million of Telex’s 14.6 million common shares outstanding, is led by two San Antonio computer companies of which Edelman is chairman, Datapoint and Intelogic Trace.
Telex, which is based in Tulsa, Okla., is a computer and electronic communications and audio equipment manufacturing company with annual sales of about $840.7 million in 1986.
The 51-year-old company, which originally produced hearing aids, employs more than 7,500 people worldwide.
Corey Horowitz, a spokesman for Edelman, said Telex would complement Datapoint, which is a leading supplier of data-processing systems, and Intelogic Trace, a computer service company spun off from Datapoint in 1985.
He said the group had notified Telex of its planned offer. The company did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on the proposal.
The group’s tender offer was announced after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. On the day, Telex shares rose $2 to $61 a share and Datapoint was unchanged at $8.375.
Oklahoma Laws an Issue
Through a partnership called TLX Acquisition Ltd., the group said it would commence a $65-a-share tender offer today for the Telex shares it did not already own. The offer is conditioned on TLX controlling a majority of the outstanding shares following the tender offer and on sufficient financing being obtained.
TLX also said the offer hinged on having two Oklahoma anti-takeover statutes voided if necessary. One statute, requiring a bidder to make certain disclosures to Oklahoma regulators, will be followed, but will be challenged if it is used to slow the attempted takeover, Horowitz said.
The second statute prohibits bidders who acquire substantial stakes in a company with significant assets in Oklahoma from voting their shares without first receiving approval from other shareholders.
