Cerplex Plans to Go Public; Buys Firm

Cerplex Group Inc., a high-tech electronics repair company in Anaheim, said Thursday it may sell stock to the public as early as March.

Richard Davis, president of privately held Cerplex, said the company expects 1993 sales to reach $100 million. Cerplex is now working with underwriter Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. to structure the company’s first public offering, Davis said, but has not yet filed for permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Proceeds of the stock sale would be used to buy other companies, Cerplex officials said.

“We will fund our planned acquisitions with existing credit lines, operating capital and our first public offering, possibly in March,” said Tom Pipkin, president of marketing and sales. “We don’t know the size yet.”

In addition, Cerplex said Thursday that it has acquired InCirT Technology, an Anaheim company with more than 100 employees that makes and tests electronic circuit boards. InCirT has annual revenue of more than $10 million. The purchase price was not revealed.

In October, Cerplex, which repairs electronic, computer and medical equipment under the manufacturers’ original-equipment warranties, announced an acquisition strategy designed to double its size, Pipkin said. Cerplex is now finalizing the purchase of two more companies, one in New York and one in the Bay Area. Both deals are expected to be announced by year’s end, Pipkin said.

Cerplex has been on a buying spree for months. On Oct. 28, the company said it had purchased Irvine-based Testar Inc., a circuit-board repair company with more than 80 employees. And earlier this year, Cerplex took over a Santa Ana parts warehouse and repair depot from Novadyne Computer Systems Inc. as part of a partnership agreement, adding the facilities plus the 50 people who work there to its operations. Pipkin said Cerplex now has about 550 employees.

Davis said Thursday’s acquisition will add all of InCirT’s employees and equipment to Cerplex. He said the company expects to have 800 employees by the end of 1994 and report annual revenue of about $150 million.

“We are looking at the possibility of going public,” Davis said. “The market climate is excellent.”