American Mobile Pays $8.25 Million for Autotel

Autotel, a Sherman Oaks-based operator of mobile-telephone networks, was acquired for $8.25 million by another player in the industry, American Mobile Systems.

Both companies connect mobile-telephone users via radio frequencies, as opposed to the newer “cellular” networks that connect car phones over microwaves.

Autotel is a privately held partnership whose principals and founders are Richard Somers and William Young. They are now president and chief financial officer, respectively, of American Mobile, which now has about 4,500 customers.

American Mobile is moving its headquarters staff to Sherman Oaks from New York. It is a publicly held concern whose major stockholders include United Artists Communications, which holds a 20% stake.

American Mobile also announced that United Artists Communications invested an additional $4.25 million in American Mobile in the form of a note convertible into American Mobile common stock.

United Artists Communications is a unit of Tele-Communications, a major cable-television concern.