FINANCE : Western Digital Will Become Major Shareholder of Wespercorp in Swap

Wespercorp, a Santa Ana computer company, has acquired the computer graphics terminal business of a Western Digital subsidiary in a deal that will make Western Digital a major shareholder in Wespercorp.

Under the agreement, Wespercorp will acquire the Selanar graphics terminal business of Faraday Electronics, a subsidiary of Irvine-based Western Digital. In exchange, Western Digital will receive stock and warrants representing up to 16.7% of Wespercorp’s common stock outstanding and 10.5% of its voting stock.

Chuck Hester, a spokesman for Western Digital, said the computer company is not interested in acquiring control of Wespercorp. “It was simply advantageous for Wespercorp to issue stock as opposed to cash,” he explained.

The deal calls for Western Digital to receive about 600,000 Wespercorp common shares worth more than $375,000 and warrants to purchase Wespercorp stock for $1 per share. The exact number of warrants to be issued will depend on a review of Selanar’s inventory.

George E. Dashiell, Wespercorp’s president and chief executive, said he expects the Selanar acquisition to contribute to the company’s profit and boost revenues by 15% to 20% during the next year.

Wespercorp has had difficulty making a profit recently. The computer-products company lost $152,000 on sales of $907,000 for its second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31.

The Selanar business makes high-resolution graphics terminals used by engineers and designers. Selanar represents a small portion of the Faraday business acquired by Western Digital in April, 1987.