Ottawa, Ontario-based Gandalf Technologies Inc has been looking for an acquisition for several years now, although some very bad figures and a change of management stalled the quest after it failed win Case Communications Plc over here. It is now back on track and looks to be on the way to the altar with a letter of intent to acquire Infotron Systems Corp, Cherry Hill, New Jersey in an exchange of shares – one Gandalf common for every two Infotron common or preferred shares, valuing the transaction at an indicated $27.4m. The two have also agreed in principal with Infotron’s US commercial bank lenders on a restructuring of the banks’ existing loans to Infotron. Infotron manufactures and markets data, speech and image networks used by large corporations and public entities worldwide and its principal products include wide area data and speech network exchanges, multiplexers and network management systems. for the British Broadcasting Corp World Service, providing communication links for the World Service’s Editing, Distribution and Translation system. It is Gandalf’s second major sale to the BBC in a year – it won a $2.3m contract for a corporate voice and data network. The World Serv ice network will have four Gandalf Starmaster network processor nodes and will provide fast access for World Service journalists and pro gramme staff to scripts, news and feature material in EDiT databases.
