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

To: killybegs who wrote (8892)	5/29/1999 3:36:00 PM
From: Michael Olds	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17679

This from the Raging Bull and Yahoo sites: (A very well written, rational, and level headed view): By: 2051orbust Reply To: None Saturday, 29 May 1999 at 3:56 AM EDT Post # of 862 Okay folks here is my summary--for what little it may be worth-- of the Ampex meeting. I have taken the liberty of refreshing my memeory by reading all the the Raging BUll, Yahoo, and SI posts up until approximately 12am Sat 29 May. In no particular order here are some thoughts: 1. Reiter Associates will most likely remain simply an investment and not a majority owned sub as Bramson believes that circumstances are now such that Ampex does not need to own what Reiter provides. He spoke well of Reiter. 2. As you engineers know, companies don't set out to patent things; they try to solve problems. And, if something patentable should arise from the solution, well fine then. Ampex has the ability to prosecute patent infringement and will do so if necessary, but that is not the focus of the new holding company. The Mitsubishi disappointment (about which Bramson said, literally, "We wuz robbed" nevertheless yielded a settlement payment from Mitsubishi. And further royalties will ensue form various sources. But royalties, while they are helping to fund current programs are not Ampex' future. 3. Bramson likened Ampex to the situation in the 30s wherein NBC was larger than CBS but CBS was more profitable because of its inhouse efficiencies. He believes that Ampex simply does storage better than anyone. However, he is positioning this company as an Internet Video company and wants to wean the analysts from the the notion of Ampex the storage company. When he is ready to tell his tale to the street it will be about Ampex as a net video content creator and provider and oh yes by the way we can store it all, too. 4. The AXC/TEK alliance is getting stronger. I spoke with Michael Cooper who heads Ampex Data Storage and he said Tek's sales force--which is much larger than Ampex'--is actively promoting Profile/DST combinations to its customers. He also said that a company whose identity he could not disclose is going to be replacing their Storage Technologies gear with a DST system. This is very good news. I think I know the company, but I'm not saying. He said further that the company is working hard at showing customers how the reliability, speed and deep storage capability of DST make it well worth the premium price. Up front cost is a major issue for those who don't understand the overall cost effectiveness of DST. 5. The delayed proxies that seem to have caused so much speculation are the result of nothing more than the serviceing company having had some difficulty in distributing them. Nothing more. Final vote on everything will be tallied on 18Jun or as soon as possible. All the matters to be voted upon are comfortably in the lead and late arriving votes are not going to change anything. 6.Contrary to what one enthusiastic poster claimed, their is no great rush to list on NYSE or NASDAQ. Bramson does not see a need for that. When it becomes a fait accompli he will list on one of these exchanges. That will happen when the company's fortunes have turned and when analysts and investors are beating down our doors, not when posters demand it. 7. There was at least one representative of a venture capitalist firm at the meeting. He was involved in the Micronet purchase. 8. Again contrary to a poster, most if not all of the officers were present. Dave Gardy was not there. 9. Micronet's new products are being well received, orders are coming, and it appears that they are on their way to improvement in the relatively near future. 10. Bramson did say that he believes that Ampex can improve the quality of the images on the net. He did not indicate that Ampex has a killer application to revolutionize the industry. He made it made it a point to say that Ampex has always been an imaging company even in the days of plain old video tape and that that is where Ampex' future lies: improving image production, storage, and delivery. 11. There are now, essentially, unlimited channels for distribution and it is Ampex' goal to be the largest streaming company. 12. There will most likely be some form of an auction channel coming. 13. IPOs are not necessarily coming soon. Bramson is not buying companies for the purpose of IPOing them. He is not buying companies simply to own companies. That is what mutual funds do. Ampex is not a mutual fund. It is not their intention to "continue buying companies" as one poster wrote. Companies will be bought and subsidiaries will be IPOd only if there is a compelling business reason to do so. The pacification of message board posters is not, in Ampex' view, a compelling reason. The internet ship is not sailing with Ampex waving goodbye from the pier; Ampex was there at the beginnings of the net and will continue to be a participant in its development and exploitation. 14. Ampex does not need "evangelists instead of accountants and engineers" as one poster suggested. The good ship Ampex is commanded by a very sensible, battle-hardened, visionary-thinking captain who has the good sense to stay the course in very stormy seas. And should the captain become aware of a sea change, be assured he will act to ensure the ship's safety. Bramson has saved Ampex' butt, frankly. He has kept this company going when it nearly went under. It is said that "all ships have good captains in calm seas"; Ampex has a good captain for all seas. 15. Bramson is very skilled at making deals and restructuring existing deals to maximize cash flows and efficiencies. He will make sure that Ampex has the funding it needs to meet its goals. He is very resourceful and very creative, despite the slander of those who disparage this man with ignorant appellations, the mildest of which is "Uncle Eddie". Please everyone, show a little respect for this man who is working so hard to make each of us very satisfied investors. 16. The plan will take time, probably far more time than the Internet Generation "demands". I for one do not care if it takes, say, three years for Ampex to go up to (fill in your dream here) or three months. I believe I am invested, yes invested, in a very good company with a very bright future. I am fully margined on this puppy. And I left the meeting not walking on air with stars in my eyes but rather, I left feeling very, very confident about a very bright future. Maybe I'm wrong. Perform your due diligence and make your own decisions. Please, everyone accept my apology in advance for any offense I might have caused in offering my opinions on the "State of the Ampex" address. And please excuse any typos or misspellings I may have included herein. I am very tired after a long and exciting day. If anyone has found this message useful and would like to post it to Yahoo or SI, please do.

To: killybegs who wrote (8892)	5/29/1999 3:52:00 PM
From: Carl R.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17679

In the event that they IPO TVoW, I thought at first that your idea didn't apply due to the fact that AXC is not the sole owner. The more I think about it, the more I think it could apply. In the IPO, TVoW would raise money by issuing new shares. AXC would normally hold on to its shares so that the IPO could be as small as possible, assuring that the "IPO haircut" was as small as possible, and then at a later date AXC could sell some shares in a secondary to raise cash without that haircut. Alternatively they could issue some rights to existing AXC shareholders, who could buy some number of TVoW shares from AXC. This would raise some cash for AXC, and have the advantage that the "haircut" would not be lost to "flip artists", but accrue to its own shareholders. Carl