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Ashton-Tate is ripe for takeover, analysts say, but CEO Ed Esber laughs at the idea.


Ashton-Tate is ripe for takeover, analysts say, but CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board.  Ed Esber laughs at the idea

Ashton-Tate Corp. of Torrance is very ripe for a takeover, analysts said last week after the computer software company reported its fourth consecutive quarterly loss and no news of a long-awaited new software product.

"I think it's an attractive takeover," said Aharon Orlansky, an analyst with New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 & Foreign Securities. "They have a huge customer base, they need fresh management and someone who can take over and capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on`   

v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>.
 their success."

Although Ashton-Tate reported a loss of $1 million, or 4 cents a share, on sluggish revenues of $57 million, the company has its balance sheet in position, said analyst Tim R. McCollum of Dean Witter Reynolds Dean Witter Reynolds was an American stock brokerage catering to the middle class. In 1997, it merged with the Morgan Stanley Group to form Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The amalgamated firm is now known as Morgan Stanley. , pointing out its $100 million cash balance at March 31.

Ashton-Tate holds about 50 percent of the market share in its flagship dBASE products for list management on personal computers, said McCollum. The company's profitability rests on whether a new version of that product, dBASE IV, Version 1.1 is released successfully and soon before another company grabs its customers with a better upgrade.

Originally dBASE IV was released in late 1988, but users found it cumbersome and full of errors. In the summer of 1989, the company began to lose money, finishing the year with a $29 million loss on lowered revenues of $265 million. An extensive testing program began for Version 1.1, but the new software may not be released until June, analysts have said.

Any number of companies with a lot of cash that could produce economies of scale with Ashton-Tate technology may have their eyes on the company, said Orlansky. Senior management will probably resist most offers, he added, since "they're not exactly underpaid un·der·paid  
v.
Past tense and past participle of underpay.


underpaid
Adjective

not paid as much as the job deserves

underpaid adj
." Chairman and CEO Edward Esber, said Orlansky "has a fantastic deal over there that he doesn't have anywhere else. He doesn't deserve that compensation level."

Esber, a Harvard M B A who was brought on board six years ago, made more than $700,000 cash compensation in 1988, and he exercised options for 537,000 shares of stock. In 1989, however, his cash compensation was listed as $485,000, plus stock options he did not exercise, and the current market value of his stock based on last week's $11.875 a share range is about $4.78 million. Two Ashton-Tate vice presidents also made $190,000 and $250,000 in cash last year in addition to other perks perk 1  
v. perked, perk·ing, perks

v.intr.
1. To stick up or jut out: dogs' ears that perk.

2. To carry oneself in a lively and jaunty manner.
, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 the proxy statement Proxy Statement

A document containing the information that a company is required by the SEC to provide to shareholders so they can make informed decisions about matters that will be brought up at an annual stockholder meeting.
.

Esber laughs at takeover speculation.

"The [Securities and Exchange Commission] rules are very clear on disclosure, and the fact is, there's been no disclosure," he said. "There's been these rumors for one-and-a-half, two years now. We're running this company independently and we're comfortable with what we're doing."

Esber, who as CEO said he takes responsibility for the company, discounted as "typical negative journalism" a front-page Wall Street Journal article this month that lambasted his performance at Ashton-Tate.

He admitted, however, that the company needs to come up soon with dBASE, Version 1.1.

In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified"
meantime, meanwhile
, "I think it's good management of the balance sheet [to have a lot of cash], he said. "There are companies throughout our industry that have a lot of cash. That's important in a volatile industry."
COPYRIGHT 1990 CBJ, L.P.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1990, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:Ashton-Tate Corp.
Author:Flores, J.C.
Publication:Los Angeles Business Journal
Date:Apr 23, 1990
Words:545
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