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Technology Stocks : Ampex Corporation (AEXCA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hookjock who wrote (4908)	1/28/1999 6:36:00 PM
From: df	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17679

A history lesson for those who are just joining, returning and holding long; and might have forgotten..... Overview The "Titanic" sank, but the company that supplied data storage equipment for the movie of the same name hopes a new strategy will keep it afloat. Redwood City, California-based Ampex, one of Silicon Valley's oldest technology firms, makes products that store data, archive television programming, collect instrumentation data from airplane test flights, store fingerprints, and provide slow-motion sports replays. Its clients include special effects studio Industrial Light and Magic, NASA, Time Warner, Mobil, and the FBI. Government agencies account for about 28% of its sales. CEO and chairman Edward Bramson owns about 18% of Ampex; CFO Craig McKibben owns 6%. Ampex was founded in 1944 by Russian electrical engineer Alexander Poniatoff (its name comes from his initials and the first syllable of the word "excellence"). It started as a small motor manufacturer and in 1948 began marketing an audio recorder. In 1956 it introduced the earliest VCR technology. Through the next few decades the company established itself as an innovative broadcast technology developer (it holds 900 patents, and has won 11 Emmy awards and one Oscar for its technical prowess). In the 1980s, however, Ampex profits began to fall, affected by an increasingly competitive electronics market and the company's inability to switch broadcasters from then standard analog equipment to new digital technology. The company was sold to Signal Cos. in 1981 and bought by Sherborne Group, a private investment firm owned by Bramson, in 1987. With the company in debt, Bramson took it public in 1992 but retained more than 65% of its stock. In addition, he cut overhead, discontinued outmoded analog broadcast products, and focused on high-end digital storage products. The company took a $230.5 million restructuring charge in 1993. In 1997 Ampex continued to phase out slow growth segments (keepered media, broadcast products) and announced plans to grow its data storage offerings through acquisitions. In 1998 Ampex acquired MicroNet Technology, a data storage and image processing company. From MSInvestor