Work Force Reductions May Loom at AST Research Inc. : Jobs: Cuts were suggested in a filing with SEC. The firm recently bought Tandy's computer making operations.

Work Force Reductions May Loom at AST Research Inc. : Jobs: Cuts were suggested in a filing with SEC. The firm recently bought Tandy’s computer making operations.

By DEAN TAKAHASHI

Oct. 12, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

IRVINE —

The restructuring may not be over for employees of AST Research Inc., the personal computer maker that bought the computer manufacturing operations of Tandy Corp. in July.

In a document filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the $105 million acquisition, AST suggested that a $125-million restructuring charge related to the Tandy deal might be used to cover “work force reductions.”

“The restructuring charge includes estimated expenses related to work force reductions, consolidation of existing worldwide manufacturing, engineering and marketing functions and the realignment of existing product lines,” the documents said.

It is unclear whether the reference to work force reductions applies to the future or not. AST has already chosen not to hire 500 Tandy employees. In the filing, the company said it added 2,011 Tandy people to its 4,509 employees as of Aug. 27.

Despite the statement, AST spokesman Emory Epperson said there were no plans for immediate layoffs.

“It’s a formality,” Epperson said about the statement. “It leaves open any and all options related to the integration of Tandy into AST.”

After the final deal to acquire Tandy’s computer assets was announced, some analysts were surprised that AST did not scale back the amount of its previously announced $125-million write-off, even though the final purchase price was much lower than it originally expected.

The final purchase price, excluding the purchase of Tandy/GRiD France subsidiary, was $70 million less than the original “up to $175 million” that the company first announced.

That led some analysts to wonder if there were unspecified costs coming in the future. Analysts expect AST to merge the combined work forces over time, resulting in lower costs through elimination of duplicate jobs.

Meanwhile, other documents filed with the SEC show that TE Electronics Inc., the Tandy subsidiary that owned the computer manufacturing assets, reported a loss of $274.5 million on revenue of $639.3 million for the fiscal year ended June 30. That includes a $39.5 million restructuring charge.