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Battin Replaced by Sehnert as Head of Wavetek

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Times Staff Writer

Wavetek, which earlier this month adopted a “poison pill” package to ward off a possible takeover, on Friday said it had replaced president John W. Battin with C. Fredrick Sehnert, a Wavetek board member for six years.

Wavetek officials on Monday declined to comment on the reasons for Battin’s departure, but the company did say Friday that it expected to report a net loss for the second quarter ended July 2.

Sehnert previously served as president and chief executive of San Diego-based Software Products International, a closely held company whose largest shareholder and chairman is John Thornton, a Wavetek board director and major stockholder. Until his resignation last month, Thornton was Wavetek chairman.

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SPI on Monday named John Bowne to succeed Sehnert as president.

Sehnert and Thornton also sit on the board of Mitek Systems of San Diego, a company controlled by Thornton.

Ill-Fated Acquisition

Previously, Sehnert was chairman of Kratos Inc., an instrument manufacturer based in La Jolla that in 1982 borrowed $75 million to make an ill-fated acquisition of Keuffel & Esser, a New Jersey company that was twice Kratos’ size.

Kratos eventually had to liquidate its profitable divisions in order to reduce that heavy debt. Sehnert resigned as Kratos chairman in 1984.

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Battin, who joined the company in 1985 from Motorola, helped direct what several observers described as a successful turnaround at San Diego-based Wavetek. Earlier, the company nearly foundered after a series of unsuccessful acquisitions and a downturn in the instruments market.

During the past three years, Wavetek restructured its holdings by selling three unprofitable divisions and acquiring some new businesses.

Wavetek reported a $984,000 profit for the second quarter ended April 1, up 34% from $733,000 the previous second quarter. The company generated a $3.9-million profit on sales of $76.8 million for the fiscal year ended Oct. 3, 1987.

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Settled Lawsuits

Wavetek also reported that it had reached agreements to settle a pair of class-action lawsuits linked to the company’s public stock offering in 1983. A company spokesman declined to say if cash payments involved in those settlements contributed to the second-quarter loss.

Although Thornton and his wife, Sally, jointly retain about 8% of Wavetek’s stock, Thornton previously said that he had reduced his involvement in Wavetek.

In an interview Monday, Thornton said Battin’s resignation was in no way connected to terms of the class-action settlements.

In June, Thornton was replaced as Wavetek chairman by David B. Pivan, who previously served as chairman of Lynnwood, Wash.-based Intermec.

Wavetek adopted the poison pill after Shufro, Rose & Ehrman, a New York-based investment firm, indicated that it would sell its 20% interest in Wavetek. A poison pill is a strategic move by a company to make its stock less attractive to an unsolicited buyer.

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