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Technology Stocks : Nam Tai Elec. (NTAI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SBerglowe who wrote (1493)	9/16/1998 9:35:00 AM
From: Ron Bower	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1696

News item on Albatronics/NamTai deal. Note debt load of Albatronics. FWIW, Ron **************************************************** ALBATRONICS DEAL BRINGS IN NAMTAI LANA WONG Locally listed electronics firm Albatronics (Far East) said fears over securing adequate financing from its principal banks based in Japan prompted it to accept a new majority shareholder. Albatronics will issue 200 million shares to Nasdaq-listed Nam Tai Electronics for HK$70 million, giving the latter slightly over 50 per cent of the enlarged share capital. Albatronics general manager of finance Kojima Yutaka dismissed suggestions poor financial health was the reason the company's Japanese directors relinquished their controlling stake. Managing director Fukumori Nakahara said the marriage between the two firms not only provided business synergies but was also a new source of capital for Albatronics. He said Albatronics' sales and gross profit margin remained steady despite the economic crisis gripping the region, thanks mainly to the competitiveness of clients such as Aiwa and Sony. Albatronics plans to use the proceeds of the stake sale to cut debt and bring gearing down from about 436 per cent to 365 per cent - still way above an average of about 100 per cent among listed electronics firms. Nam Tai senior executive director Ming Kown Koo would not say how much capital would be injected into Albatronics if the acquisition was completed. Nam Tai has stayed in a net cash position with about US$75 million cash.