Shares in UK electronics group Telemetrix Plc leapt almost 19% to 56.5 pence at the news that the company’s hapless investors have been waiting to hear – it is finally has a chance of getting shot of its US networking equipment subsidiary, GTI Corp. There will certainly be smiles round the boardroom table as directors study a $3.10 a share offer from Technitrol Inc in a deal which values GTI at $33.8m. Telemetrix’s shares have been under a cloud since San Diego-based GTI warned earlier this year of falling revenues combined with first quarter losses set to be well in excess of the $1.6m loss seen in the fourth quarter last year. The GTI board blamed a softening in demand for computing and networking products and increased competition (CI No 3,380). The pain of GTI’s performance was made worse by the fact that Telemetrix has no representation of its board and cannot influence the companyÆs direction. Freed of the GTI problem, Telemetrix will be able to benefit from its semiconductor and ISDN test equipment subsidiaries, which have been performing well.
