High-Tech Firms Get a Taste of Merger Mania
A bit of merger mania surfaced Tuesday in Orange County.
Four high-technology companies--Helionetics, Printrak, CAM Data and Hart Industries--made announcements relating to merger completions or buyout proposals.
The largest transaction involved Irvine-based defense contractor Helionetics Inc., which said it had completed its acquisition of larger Definicon International Corp. The deal involved an exchange for 1.8 million shares of Helionetics stock.
Helionetics, with annual sales of $12.5 million, makes power-conversion systems for the military and Definicon, with yearly revenue of about $20 million, makes upgrade kits for converting personal computers to workstations. The deal allows Helionetics to diversify beyond the defense industry into commercial markets.
As part of the merger, Helionetics’ top executives and affiliates have agreed to give back 75% of their securities holdings. This will allow the merger to proceed and avoid diluting the equity held by public shareholders. Helionetics also said it is considering changing the company’s name to Definicon International.
Printrak Inc., an Anaheim-based maker of fingerprint-identification systems for police departments, completed a different kind of takeover. A management-led investor group has offered to buy the firm from its parent company, De La Rue Group of England.
Richard Giles, president and chief executive of Printrak and leader of the buyout group, said the De La Rue Group provided financing for the deal, but he declined to comment on the purchase price.
Giles said the Printrak management team includes Chuck Smith, chief financial officer, and John Hardy, vice president of engineering. He said the buyout will allow management to focus more attention on the company’s operations. De La Rue will continue to market and distribute Printrak products outside North America.
In a third buyout deal, CAM Data Systems, a Fountain Valley-based maker of computerized inventory and point-of-sale systems for retailers, said it has tentatively agreed to be acquired by Sulcus Computer of Greensburg, Pa.
If approved by CAM Data shareholders, Sulcus will acquire the currently issued and outstanding common shares of CAM Data on the basis of one share of CAM Data to one share of Sulcus plus one warrant, or the right to buy a share of stock, of Sulcus for every two shares of CAM Data exchanged.
Carl Smith, president and chief executive of CAM Data, said the merger makes sense because of similar marketing strategies of the two companies. He said the management of both companies will remain in place and no employees will be laid off because the product lines are so different. Sulcus makes computer systems for hospitality and legal businesses.
In the final transaction, Hart Industries Inc. of Laguna Hills said it had acquired Magnolia Environmental Services of Nevada, a toxic waste cleanup company, for an undisclosed price. Magnolia owns two machines which remove toxic heavy metals from industrial sludge waste and then treat it by a chemical process known as stabilization.
Hart environmental vice president Patrick Elliott said one of the machines is currently in use at a hazardous-waste landfill in Central California, and that Hart has options to buy three more of the units from the manufacturer, Magnolia Energy and Refining of Texas.
The acquisition of Magnolia of Nevada will add 12 toxic waste experts to Hart’s staff along with the equipment, Elliott said. The company hopes the new machines will enhance its novel underground storage tank cleanup and maintenance program by enabling it to clean up tank sites that are already polluted, in addition to retrofitting and maintaining tanks.
Times staff writer Jonathan Weber contributed to this report.
