WHITEWORTH INTERNATL. PURCHASED BY APPLIED CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY

WHITEWORTH INTERNATL. PURCHASED BY APPLIED CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY; the completion of the $2.15 mil. cash/note deal was announced by the computer industry supplier in a March 25 press release. "Whiteworth Internatl. was acquired for cash and notes totaling $2.15 mil., the equivalent of 10% of the generic drug company's 1985 revenues," the release stated. The announcement comes almost a year after a proposed acquisition of the company by East Coast generic mfr., Zenith Labs, fell through. Whiteworth was subsequently purchased by a private investor group ("The Pink Sheet" May 27, 1985, T&G-4). Whiteworth, based in Gardena, California, produces and markets OTC products. While the company generated over $21 mil. in sales in 1985, it posted a net loss of just over $1 mil., Applied Circuit's release stated. Acknowledging that the marriage of a drug business with a computer supplier is not a natural business fit, Applied Circuit Technology President Walter Menetrey commented: "Beyond the fact that they both require very precise and efficient manufacturing processes, there isn't any obvious correlation between generic drugs and our traditional business. What is clearly obvious, however, is the recent emergence of generic drugs as a rapidly growing industry. And its potential for sustaining that growth is increasing because of favorable regulatory and market environments." A supplier of automatic test equipment used in the process of manufacturing computer disk drives, Applied Circuit Technology reported revenues of $18.5 mil. in fiscal 1985. Whiteworth is ACT's third acquisition in the past 15 months and its first venture outside the computer industry, the release noted. The company explained that the recent purchase reflects its strategy of diversification, which is designed to offset the cycles of the computer disk drive manufacturing industry.