4 Executives at Recently Merged Cipher Depart
Four top executives, including chairman Gary Liebl, have resigned from Cipher Data Products, the San Diego computer tape drive manufacturer that earlier this month was acquired by its rival Archive Corp. of Costa Mesa in a $123-million tender offer.
Archive officials on Wednesday confirmed the resignations of Liebl, chief financial officer Thomas Anderson, general counsel Henry Kohlmann and vice president of human resources Richard Ottaviano.
Archive said it will honor the “golden parachute” severance payments totaling $2.7 million that Cipher Data’s board of directors voted for Liebl and eight other Cipher Data executives before the tender offer.
Archive’s $8.25-per-share tender offer for Cipher Data was completed April 5, and the two companies were formally merged Tuesday, Archive general counsel Tag Merrick said Wednesday. The merger capped an on-again, off-again takeover battle that began in December when Archive’s board made an unsolicited $7.50-per share tender offer for Cipher Data.
Both companies manufacture tape drives, a computer data storage device used to back up hard disks. The merged company will control more than 40% of certain segments of the tape drive market.
The resignations were expected and were part of the agreement by which Cipher Data’s board of directors accepted the terms of Archive’s tender offer, Merrick said.
Although industry observers expect there will be layoffs at Cipher Data because of the merger, Merrick said Archive has as yet made no decision on whether it will make job cuts.
“We’re still taking a look at the two structures to determine how we are going to proceed, to see if we are going to do any consolidation of the two groups (of employees),” Merrick said.
Archive has about 1,600 employees, and Cipher Data’s payroll totals 1,700, Merrick said, of whom about 300 work in San Diego. For its fiscal year ended last September, Archive reported $181 million in sales, and Cipher Data reported revenue of $218 million for its fiscal year ended last June.
