Datum of Anaheim to Buy Austron, Rival Technology Firm Based in Texas : SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Datum has agreed to buy Austron, a rival technology company based in Austin, Tex., for $11.7 million.

Anaheim-based Datum said it will pay $3.25 for each of Austron’s approximately 3.6 million shares outstanding.

Both companies make frequency and timing instrumentation for military, commercial and space applications.

“(Austron officials) are in very similar businesses, and there is some degree of overlap,” said Louis B. Horwitz, Datum’s president. “But the amount of complementary business is far more than the parts that overlap.”

The merger “offers us the opportunity to maximize the investment we make in marketing and broaden our product line,” he said.

Datum had revenues of $20.6 million and earnings of $761,000 for the nine months ended last Sept. 30. The company employs 370 people in Anaheim, Goleta in Santa Barbara County and Beverly, Mass.

Austron, with 90 employees, reported sales of $8 million and earnings of $356,000 for its fiscal year ended last June 30.

Datum said it expects to complete the acquisition by the end of June.