Data Processing Seeks $27 Million in Public Stock Offering

Data Processing Resources Corp., a temporary employment agency that specializes in filling computer-related positions, said it hopes to raise as much as $27 million when it sells stock to the public for the first time, perhaps as soon as March 1.

The Newport Beach-based company will sell 1.95 million shares in the stock offering, and current shareholders will sell another 250,000, according to a statement filed recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares are expected to sell for $12 to $14 each.

The bulk of the proceeds will be used as working capital and for possible acquisitions, said Michael Piraino, chief financial officer at Data Processing. But $4.2 million from the sale will be used to repay a loan the company received last March.

Data Processing places programmers, technicians and other computer-skilled workers with companies including the Walt Disney Co. and Wells Fargo Bank, Piraino said. The company has a roster of 12,000 temporary employees, and had filled 500 temporary positions as of Nov. 30.

Mary Ellen Weaver, chief executive of the 11-year-old company, plans to sell 239,000 shares in the offering, reducing her stake in the firm to 41% from 64%, Piraino said.

The company reported net income of $753,000 for the fiscal first quarter ended Oct. 31, up from $317,000 in the comparable period a year earlier. Revenue totaled $13.95 million in the latest quarter, compared to $11.1 million a year earlier.