We were far from convinced that Phoenix Group International Inc, Irvine, California really did have a contract for a joint venture to build 6m personal computers in the Soviet Union, which is why we dismissed the story in a downpage Minigram (CI No 1,261), and now the company has acknowledged that it does not yet have a contract: John French, president of Phoenix International subsidiary American PC Corp is quoted in the Orange County Register as saying that neither American PC nor Phoenix has ever received a contract entitling them to sell 6m personal computers in the USSR or elsewhere; the declaration is part of a legal document filed in connection with a lawsuit brought by American PC’s minority shareholder and former chairman, Michael Kolsy, who is accusing Phoenix of illegally trying to dilute his interest in American PC; the suit claims that Phoenix and his former partners in American PC tried to squeeze him out to avoid having to share the profits to be derived from the Soviet contract.
