Bristol Halts Purchases; Stock Continues to Slip

Bristol Retail Solutions Inc. said Tuesday that it has suspended plans to buy two companies, including one that was supposed to provide Bristol with a new chief executive.

Newport Beach-based Bristol, which provides retail automation products and services, had planned to acquire Maryland-based Hayman Systems and Micros of South Florida Inc. All three companies have now agreed to halt the process, which could resume later, depending on Bristol’s “financial business conditions,” Bristol said in a statement.

The company declined to elaborate on why the deal collapsed. But since Bristol announced the planned acquisitions March 22, its stock price has lost more than half of its value, tumbling from $1.03 to a close of 47 cents on Tuesday, down 6 cents for the day.

The company said previously that Richard Hayman, owner of Hayman Systems, would become Bristol’s chief executive once the two companies were joined.

Bristol said last week that it had appointed its second interim chief executive, Michael Pollastro, because the planned purchase was taking longer than expected. The first interim chief executive, founder Lawrence Cohen, was unable to continue in that post due to other business interests, the company said.

Bristol is also struggling to meet Nasdaq financial requirements, including a standard that listed stocks trade for at least $1 a share. At its annual meeting on July 21, Bristol will ask shareholders to approve a reverse stock split to boost the price.