Takeover Protection : ‘Shareholder Rights’ Plan Adopted by AST Research

AST Research Inc., an Irvine personal computer maker, has adopted a “shareholder rights” plan intended to make it more difficult for the company to be acquired in an unfriendly takeover.

AST President Safi Qureshey said Thursday that the plan was not a response to any takeover activity directed at the company, and that the company is not aware of any attempt to take control of AST.

Lawrence Harris, an analyst at the Los Angeles investment firm Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards Inc., said it would be difficult to take over AST because a majority of the company’s stock is owned by its three co-founders.

One of those co-founders, Albert Wong, quit the company last year after a disagreement with the other two. At last report, Wong still held a 16% stake in AST and remained a director of the firm.

“No sizable amount (of AST stock) has been sold” by Wong, said Al Melrose, AST’s director of investor relations.

The plan “will not prohibit acquisition of the company,” Qureshey said. “But it establishes certain rights to ensure that any such acquisition occurs on terms equitable to all shareholders.”

AST did not release details of the plan, but said it intends to inform shareholders about the plan in mid-August.

AST stock closed Thursday at $9.25 per share, down 25 cents in over-the-counter trading. The stock has been falling since it peaked above $17 in mid-July, 1988.