SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : Bristol Research Agrees to Acquire Indiana Firm in $2-Million Deal

Bristol Research Corp., a Costa Mesa computer company, has agreed to acquire an Indiana firm in a deal expected to have a value of about $2 million.

Bristol is acquiring National Cadd-Pro in exchange for up to 1.6 million newly issued common shares of Bristol stock, plus an unspecified amount of cash, said Bristol Chairman E. Maxwell Malone. He said the exact value of the deal will be determined by National Cadd-Pro’s earnings this year.

Bristol has about 3.9 million common shares outstanding.

National Cadd-Pro, a privately held Syracuse, Ind.-based marketer of computer-aided design equipment, had sales in excess of $10 million in 1988.

Publicly held Bristol has not yet reported its financial results for 1988, but sales are expected to be about $8 million, Malone said. The Costa Mesa firm manufactures IBM-compatible personal computers and related products.

“We believe this combination has a lot of synergy and will provide immediate savings to both companies,” Malone said.

The deal is subject to a definitive agreement by both companies’ boards and approval by shareholders.