Utilities software house TouchStone Software Corp is set to acquire privately-held systems management firm Unicore Software Inc and make its founder and principal owner Pierre Narath the company’s new chief executive officer. Narath, who is already a member of Touchstone’s board of directors, will replace current CEO Kenneth Forbes who has stepped down to pursue other interests, according to the company. The deal will make Narath the largest single stockholder of TouchStone, although the exact number of shares of TouchStone shares to be issued to him and the other shareholder of Unicore, along with an unspecified amount of cash, has yet to be finalized. Unicore, which develops and distributes Year 2000 solutions, PC diagnostic products and systems management software, was formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Award Software International Inc. In September, Phoenix Technologies Ltd acquired Award and in October the company divested its interest in Unicore. TouchStone says it is anxious to complete the deal as soon as possible, and expects to do so by January 31. To get that done, the company will request an exemption from the requirement that the acquisition be approved by stockholders. The sense of urgency comes from the fact that the troubled company is barely hanging on to its listing on the Nasdaq National Market, with its shares trading at just $0.875. For its most recent quarter, the company reported a loss of $935,000 on revenue of $749,000.
