COMPUSA TO BUY MAIL ORDER FIRM.Byline: Ronald Rosenberg Rosenberg (rō`zənbərg), city (1990 pop. 20,183), Fort Bend co., S Tex., on the Brazos River, in an oil and natural gas area; inc. 1902. Rosenberg and its sister city of Richmond are physically one community. The Boston Boston, town, England Boston, town (1991 pop. 26,495), E central England, on the Witham River. Boston's fame as a port dates from the 13th cent., when it was a Hanseatic port trading wool and wine. Having recovered from a decline in the 18th and 19th cent. Globe Gordon Hoffstein's third company made him even richer Thursday as CompUSA Inc., the large computer products retailer, said it will acquire his PCs Compleat Inc. for 3 million CompUSA shares, or $134.6 million. The sale price is based on Thursday's closing stock price. CompUSA shares, which split last month, jumped 5-1/8 points to close at 44-7/8 following the early-morning announcement. The final price, however, has not been determined as the acquisition, which will be accounted for as a pooling-of-interest basis, is expected to close May 30. The deal enables Dallas-based CompUSA to have a significant presence in the fast-growing mobile computer mail order business, where Marlborough, Mass.-based PCs Compleat is one of the bigger players. In turn, PCs Compleat will be able to expand its product line, gain better wholesale pricing and have access to the names and addresses of CompUSA's 3 million customers, said Hoffstein. PCs Compleat will retain its name and will remain in Marlborough. No employment loss is expected and Hoffstein will continue to head the new CompUSA subsidiary. ``We could go public and raise $30 million, but that would not gain us more buying power Buying Power The money an investor has available to buy securities. In a margin account, the buying power is the total cash held in the brokerage account plus maximum margin available. Also referred to as "Excess Equity. , more potential customer names and additional product lines that we get with CompUSA,'' said the 44-year-old Hoffstein, PCs Compleat chairman and chief executive. With $20 million from Boston- and Chicago-based venture capitalists Venture Capitalist An investor who provides capital to either start-up ventures or support small companies who wish to expand but do not have access to public funding. Notes: Venture capitalists usually expect higher returns for the additional risks taken. , Hoffstein created the company 4-1/2 years ago. Last year PCs Compleat had revenues of $160 million and 215 employees. Hoffstein declined to reveal the company's profits, but said PCs Compleat will have between $275 million and $300 million in revenue this year. The company's significantly larger rivals in the $20 billion computer mail order business include CDW CDW - data warehouse Computer Centers Inc. of Buffalo Grove Buffalo Grove A village of northeast Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Population: 43,300. , Ill.; Micro Warehouse Inc. of Norwalk, Conn.; Dell Computer Inc. of Austin, Texas; and Gateway 2000 of Sioux City Sioux City, city (1990 pop. 80,505), seat of Woodbury co., NW Iowa, at the junction of the Big Sioux and Floyd rivers with the Missouri; inc. 1857. It is a shipping, wholesale trade, and industrial center for an extensive agricultural and livestock area (including , N.D. |
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