Nixdorf Computer AG has reportedly turned down a proposal by MAI Basic Four Inc’s advisors, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc that it should buy the Tustin, California builder of business computers, but observers believe that the eventual buyer of the company may well turn out to be European. The argument is that the company’s sales in Europe – West Germany and the Netherlands are its strongholds – are still substantial whereas the US business has been in decline. The company’s controlling shareholders, who have 59% in all, want out, and the likely outcome is sale of the entire company. MAI has been trying to bring its proprietary line nearer the Unix mainstream: its Bossix operating system adds elements of Unix to the Basic Operating System, and it has technology pacts with Sequent Computer.
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