Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 34

Aug. 2, 1988 Asbury Park Press MESS mm CO Concurrent Computer Corp. Briefs Tinton Falls company First public stock offering in January 1986. Perkin-Elmer retained 82 percent of stock. announces merger plan Founded in 1966 as Interdata Inc.

in Oceanport. One principal was Daniel Sinnott, current chairman of Syntrex Eatontown. Spun off by Perkin-Elmer as a separate company named Concurrent Computer Corp. in November 1985. Concurrent, Massachusetts firm combining By JOSEPH CAVALUZZI and JEANNE JACKSON Press Staff Writers 1991 1986 1981 1976 1961 1971 1966 CONCURRENT COMPUTER CORP.

of Tinton Falls has announced plans to merge with Massachusetts Computer Corp. (MASSCOMP) in a Announces plans Aug. 1, 1988, to be taken over by Massachusetts Computer Corp. Purchased from Sinnott's in 1974 by Perkin-Elmer Norwalk, which is operated it as its Data Systems Group. move that will nearly double Concurrent's access to the super minicomputer market 2V4 to close at 19'A.

MASSCOMP, which also trades on NASDAQ, was up Vi and closed at 4V. The new company, which will keep the Concurrent name and its headquarters on Apple Street in Tin-ton Falls, will have a sales force in 34 countries. "Our market size was $2.5 billion and now it will be $4.8 billion. This will make us a $370 million company," said Concurrent president and chief executive officer James K. Sims, who will retain those titles in the new company and be named chairman as well.

The merger, which could be completed by the middle of next month, would serve several goals of the companies involved. For Concurrent, it will mean access to the lower end of superminicomputers and broaden its range of customers to those spending $5,000 to $100,000. "The combination of our mutual technology, market share and customer base gives the new company the critical mass necessary to be a leader in defining real-time computing standards into the 1990s," Sims said. It also gives Concurrent a base in Massachusetts, which has become known as the Silicon Valley of the East Coast in recent years because of its growth in computer-related businesses. Concurrent, which recently consolidated most of its New Jersey operation in Tinton Falls, will expand the MASSCOMP will acquire $240 million worth of Concurrent stock at $20 a share, 82 percent of which currently is held by Perkin-Elmer which formed Concurrent three years ago as a spin-off company from TINKER Asbury ParK Press the merger will mean the creation of a new sales and field service force of about 1,400, compared to the 300 employees currently in the field for MASSCOMP.

The Westford, See MERGER, page C10 manufacturing facility it operates in Oceanport, although Sims said officials of the two companies haven't completed specific expansion plans. For MASSCOMP, a seven-year-old company that went public in 1984 and had sales of $74.6 million last year, its Data Systems Group. Concurrent, which trades on the NASDAQ National Market was up Eatontown company to increase work force Virginia firm buys regional brokerage PHILADELPHIA Butcher Singer a regional brokerage firm with an office in Toms River, has entered into an agreement to be purchased by Wheat, First Securities Inc. of Richmond, Va. Financial details were not disclosed.

A new holding company, to be known as WBF Securities will operate the two firms as separate divisions with each keeping their old names. The new company will be headed by John McElroy the current chairman of Wheat. Wheat has 54 offices in the Virginias, the Carolinas, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Washington. In its latest fiscal year, the company had revenues of $129 million. Butcher Singer, which has its headquarters here, as 38 offices in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts and West Virginia.

In addition to Toms River, its New Jersey offices are in Cherry Hill, Ocean City and Westfield. The company had revenues of $87.5 million in its latest fiscal year. The new company will have 2,000 employees, including 750 brokers. Combined, the companies will have $56 million in capital. The companies rt expected to merge several back-office operations, such as data processing.

Constance K. Weaver, manager of Butcher Singer's Toms River office, Said her firm's employees are pleased with the merger and said the two companies should complement each other. "They (Wheat) are stronger in the Underwriting field, while we have a strong municipal bond business," she said. Trade reports changing NEW YORK The New York Stock Exchange said yesterday it plans to begin reporting program trading activity every half-hour, a move intended to give investors a better sense of how the much-criticized activity may be influencing the market The exchange hopes to implement the new system by the end of the year. "We believe that exposing this data to the full sunlight of public disclosure reinforces our commitment to providing all investors a fair, fcfficient and orderly market," said Richard Grasso, NYSE president and chief operating officer.

The most commonly used form of program trading is index arbitrage, in i i i. ait i Syntrex Inc. hires new employees to handle legal support services dftiii fciitr-" rVfr-Mnl iiM Press Staff Report SYNTREX INC. will hire 80 new employees to handle a new database dealing with the legal profession. The hiring, a 13 percent increase in the Eatontown company's work force, follows by about three months a layoff of about 60 people.

Most of those hired will be in clerical jobs and work in a new group called Litigation Services, according to Daniel Sinnott, chairman and chief executive officer. "We created Litigation Services because it represents a natural extention of our established role as a supplier of advanced hardware and software for litigation support services," Sinnott expertise in this area to help law firms build and access large, complex databases more quickly, efficiently and economically," the chairman said. Sinnott said the company's personnel department has contacted a number of the people who lost their jobs in May to offer jobs in the new group. Tom Atwood, director of the group, said it will provide a steady stream of temporary work for area residents beyond the permanent positions now being filled. Sinnott said he expects modest growth in sales this year as a result of the new program.

The company suffered loses $2.7 million last year and another $3 million in the first half of the current fiscal year, almost $2.5 million of that in the area of $500,000 to $1 million," he said. "But it could grow fairly nicely. I've looked at companies that specialize in this alone and generate $20 to $30 million in sales a year." Sinnott said Syntrex also has been continuing to use more industry standard products and design less of its own. "It gives us a platform to use a lot of application packages already available in the market place that run on these industry standards," he said. "It provides our customers more flexibility.

Customers are demanding that now." The company, which typically has maintained a substantial cash balance in spite of its losses, is continuing to look for complementary acquisitions. One such deal, a tentative deal to pay $1.8 million for EasTek, a three-year-old maker of equipment that stores documents, fell through last month on the day before the purchase of the Pine Brook-based company was to close. Joseph Cavaktzzi said yesterday. second quarter. SYNTREX CHAIRMAN SINNOTT Expects modest growth in sales "The group will permit us to leverage our "We expect a modest increase this year, in the II Texas bank says it sought shield from bankruptcy --r a I 1 ft 4 V-w I The Associated Press DALLAS First RepublicBank whose subsidiary banks were declared insolvent by federal regulators, said yesterday it had sought protection under U.S.

bankruptcy laws. Federal banking authorities closed the holding company's 40 Texas banks after the close of business Friday and turned them over to Charlotte, N.C.-based NCNB Corp. Following that action, First RepublicBank Corp. and IFRB Corp. its wholly owned subsidiary and intermediate holding company formed in last year's merger with InterFirst each filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 court protection from creditors Saturday.

In light of the bankruptcy action, the New York Stock Exchange said it suspended trading in First Republic-Bank's stock. First RepublicBank Corp. was left with a single bank in Delaware and certain subsidiaries engaged in non-banking activities, according to a prepared release. "The bankruptcy filings by the holding companies do not affect their former banking operations in Texas," the statement said. "First Republic See BANKRUPTCY, page C9 Associated Press 'User-friendly Avon calling' When the Avon lady comes calling these days, she'll be toting a computer along with her samples of face creams, makeup and shampoo.

The Avon Beauty Vision computer, being demonstrated in New York last week by Kathleen Walas on Susan Hansen's face, gives an accurate reading of a woman's skin coloring and selects individual shades of cosmetics which would look most natural on her. Company probes Printer dismisses 1 for alleged leak role Plant managers see production increases The Associated Press NEW YORK Most U.S. plant managers expect their production and new orders to increase in the third quarter, continuing the rebound in the wnicn nrms ouy or sen oasKcis oi Stocks with offsetting trades in stock-index futures to take advantage of brief discrepancies in price between the two. Critics of the practice argue that it Jdds to market volatility. Gillette settles lawsuit BOSTON Gillette Co.

and Coniston Group said yesterday they settled their lawsuit for seats on Gillette's board a move that ends the battle for control of the company jnd could give the New York investment firm a hefty $52 million profit. In return, Coniston, which wanted to put Gillette up for sale, agreed not buy large amounts of its shares, try to take over or influence Gillette for three years. As part of the agreement, Gillette said it would buy back about 14.3 percent of its shares from all holders for a total of $720 million, at a fixed $45 a share. The settlement sent Gillette's shares down sharply on the New York Stock Exchange, closing down $2,625 at $37.50. Treasury-bill rates rise WASHINGTON Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in yesterday's auction to the highest level in nearly nine months.

The Treasury Department sold $6.8 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 6.89 percent, up from 6.88 percent last week. Another $6.8 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 7.15 percent, up from 7.09 percent last week. The rates were the highest since three-month bills sold for 6.96 percent on Oct. 13 and six-month bills averaged 7.21 percent on Oct. 19.

The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors 7.1 1 for three-month bills with a 10,000 bill selling for $9,825.80 and 7.52 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,638.50. Project spending static WASHINGTON Construction spending was nearly stagnant in June as spending declines on home building and government projects offset most gains on industrial and commercial structures, the government said yesterday. Total construction spending rose a scant 0.1 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $402.8 billion, the Commerce Department said. The rise, which followed a 0.8 percent gain in May and a 1.1 percent decline in April, left construction spending 2.6 percent above the June 1987 total of $392.6 billion. Spending on new home construction declined in June, reflecting a lackluster housing market From Press staff and wire services outlook for the third quarter among manufacturers is not as strong as it was for the second quarter, the current level of expectations represents a quantum leap in optimism since the October (stock market) crash." The 46 percent of the plant managers expecting production to increase in the third quarter was down from 55 percent in the second quarter.

Managers predicting gains in new orders declined to 47 percent from 56 cent. "The manufacturing sector needs i time to readjust after bursts of growth like the one it just came through," Duncan said. "It is during these mo- mentary lulls that capacity is adjusted, production schedules are revised and the groundwork is laid for future expansion." He said it is remarkable that so many plant managers expect continued production increases, given the fact much of the nation's manufactur-'' ing industry already has been produc- ing close to maximum capacity. The! dollar's marked decline in recent years has made U.S. goods cheaper and more attractive overseas, stimulating the industrial machine to produce more and straining its capacity.

Similarly, for the next 12 months, most of the plant managers polled had HERE ARE THE companies known to be conducting investigations of possibly fraudulent stock trading based on advance leaks of Business Week magazine articles and any actions they have taken involving employees: McGraw-Hill New York, publisher of Business Week: no employee dismissals or suspensions. R.R. Donnelley Sons Chicago, printer of Business Week: one employee dismissed at Old Saybrook, plant and one employee suspended at Torrance, plant. Merrill Lynch New York, investment firm: one broker dismissed in New London, office. Prudential-Bache Securities New York, investment firm: one broker dismissed in Anaheim, office.

Advest Hartford, investment firm: one broker suspended in New London, office. Shearson Lehman Hutton New York, investment firm: disclosure that three former brokers in Hartford, office of E.F. Hutton Group Inc. may have traded on leaked articles before Hutton was acquired. Integrated Resources New York, financial services firm: no action against employees.

Quick Reilly Group New York, discount brokerage: no action against employees. which fired broker Brian Callahan from its branch in nearby Anaheim on Friday. The Donnelley spokesman declined to identify either employee. Officials reached by telephone at both plants referred all queries to Ratcliffe. Asked if he expected more dismissals or suspensions, Ratcliffe said, "I have no reason to think there's another one imminent." But Ratcliffe said the company was continuing to investigate and was cooperating with a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the leaks.

"What has happened is an object lesson to employees," he said. "We simply have to reiterate on the plant-wide level and department by department that this is not to be done." Mary McGeachy, public relations director for Business Week, declined to comment on the Donnelley actions, calling them a matter between the company and its employees. SEC officials also declined to comment in accordance with agency policy regarding current investigations. Leaking and using market-sensitive information for trading in securities before it becomes public knowledge is loosely referred to as insider trading and is a form of fraud under federal law. Business Week acknowledged on July 21 that it had long suspected leaks of tips in its "Inside Wall Street" column, which regularly touts little-known stocks as good buys.

The magazine has faced growing criticism for failing to disclose the SEC about its suspicions earlier. The Associated Press NEW YORK A printing company sacked a production worker and suspended a second employee yesterday for their alleged roles in improperly leaking advance copies of market-sensitive Business Week articles to stockbrokers. The disciplinary moves by R.R. Donnelley Sons Co. of Chicago marked the first non-Wall Street casualties in the snowballing scandal surrounding purloined "Inside Wall Street" columns that appear in the leading business weekly.

Two brokers already have been fired and another has been suspended. In addition, four more investment firms acknowledged yesterday they are probing trading activity surrounding the columns prior to their publication. That raised the total number of firms involved to at least eight and increased the likelihood that the scandal is far more widespread than earlier believed. Donnelley spokesman James M. Ratcliffe said the fired production employee, who had worked at the company's printing plant in Old Say-brook, admitted furnishing advance copies of the columns to William Dillon, a former Merrill Lynch broker in nearby New London who was fired last week.

Ratcliffe also said the company suspended a worker in its Torrance, plant as a result of cooperation with Prudential-Bache Securities nation's manufacturing industry, according to a survey released yesterday. The survey by Dun Bradstreet Corp. of 1,500 plant managers around the country showed that 46 percent of them expect their production to rise in the current quarter, while only 14 percent anticipate declines. Forty-seven percent of the managers predicted third-quarter increases in new factory orders while 15 percent forecast declines. The plant managers' expectations for the third quarter, however, were slightly less optimistic than their projections for the second quarter.

That was because manufacturing growth has been so explosive and can be expected to slow a bit, Dun Bradstreet said. The business information company said plant managers are a good barometer of the nation's manufacturing industry, since they receive information on anticipated demand, orders, prices and production costs. It was the second time that Dun Bradstreet did a quarterly survey of plant managers' expectations. "This is really a continuation of a bullish outlook for the Rust Belt economy," said Joseph W. Duncan, corporate economist and chief statistician for Dun Bradstreet.

"Though the slightly less optimistic expectations than in the previous survey. Fifty-nine percent of the managers expect production to increase during the next year, down from 63 percent. Those anticipating a rise in new orders slipped to 58 percent from 63 percent..