View Tech of Camarillo, Boston Firm to Merge

View Tech Inc. of Camarillo has agreed to merge with the Boston-based USTeleCenters, one of the largest authorized sales agents for regional Bell companies and long-distance carriers.

The merger of View Tech--which manufactures videoconferencing equipment--and USTeleCenters will allow customers to procure voice, video and data equipment as well as local, long distance and Internet services from a single source.

USTeleCenters shareholders will receive approximately 2.5 million shares of View Tech common stock, valued in excess of $17 million. The agreement is subject to the approval of the two companies’ shareholders.

“This is our first significant merger, more than doubling our revenues, which have themselves almost doubled in fiscal 1996 to $13.3 million from $6.9 million,” said Robert G. Hatfield, View Tech’s chairman and CEO.

USTeleCenters will retain its name and operate under the direction of its president, Franklin A. Reece III. Customers of GroupNet Inc., a video communications company recently acquired by View Tech, will be serviced out of existing offices in Boston and New York as View Tech.

View Tech also announced that although its revenues increased 92% for the fiscal year ended June 30, the overall result was a net loss of $696,060, or 24 cents per share. The previous fiscal year resulted in a net income of $458,890 or 26 cents a share.

The losses, which were posted in the last quarter, included nonrecurring write-offs related to acquisitions and the termination of an attempt to buy Power-Data Services in May.