Southland Communications to Expand : Santa Ana Paging Firm to Acquire A+ Beepers

Southland Communications, a Santa Ana paging company, said Monday that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire a Torrance company in a $12.5-million transaction.

Southland, a publicly traded company that does business in Orange County as National Paging Co., has agreed to purchase A+ Beepers of California for $9.5 million in cash and notes. Southland also would assume $3 million of A+ Beepers debt, according to Ahmad Bayaa, Southland president.

Southland would acquire A+ Beepers from a private investment group represented by Elliott Singer, a Nashville, Tenn., businessman with other holdings in telecommunication companies, Bayaa said.

According to Chris Kim, operations manager for A+ Beepers, Singer also serves as president of A+ Beepers. Singer could not be reached for comment.

Acquiring A+ Beepers would increase Southland’s customer base from 28,000 to 53,000. Bayaa described the acquisition as an economical way to expand Southland.

“We believe it will help us save on general administrative expenses because of the similarities between the two companies,” Bayaa said.

He added that it is too early to comment on how the acquisition might affect A+ Beepers’ 30 to 35 employees.

Southland Communications, which was founded in 1981, lost $437,000 on $2.6 million in sales in 1987. Despite those losses, Bayaa said, he is confident that Southland can raise the $6 million in cash required to complete the deal.