SOFTWARE MAKER SEES BOARD BATTLE; SHAREHOLDER, BROKERAGE SUING.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer A battle is brewing for control of software developer Sound Source Interactive Inc. A current board member and one of the brokerage firms that took the company public have each filed suit against Sound Source and Vincent Bitetti, its chairman and chief executive, to prevent Bitetti from filling existing board vacancies with company insiders. In response to the suits, a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Superior Court judge last week issued a temporary restraining order temporary restraining order: see injunction. preventing Bitetti from taking any board action before April 23. In its suit, Boston Group claims that when it and another company agreed to underwrite To insure; to sell an issue of stocks and bonds or to guarantee the purchase of unsold stocks and bonds after a public issue. The word underwrite has two meanings. Sound Source's initial public offering in July 1996, it was with Bitetti's promise that three outsiders would be appointed to Sound Source's five-member board. Instead, the suits claims, the board is currently deadlocked dead·lock n. 1. A standstill resulting from the opposition of two unrelenting forces or factions. 2. Sports A tied score. 3. with two insiders and two outsiders and Sound Source management is attempting to add more insiders. The other plaintiff against Sound Source is board member Mark James, who represents ASSI ASSI Airglow Solar Spectrometer Instrument ASSI Ab Statens Skogsindustrier ASSI Additional Special Skill Indicator ASSI Aerial Scout Sensors Integration ASSI Arvin Suspension Systems Italy Inc., a major shareholder in the Calabasas company. Representatives of Sound Source, Boston Group and ASSI could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But in a written statement, Sound Source said it is committed to ``the rights of the shareholders to control the size and composition of their board'' and that the company has opened negotiations with the plaintiffs. Sound Source develops interactive games and educational software. For the six months ended Dec. 31, it earned $689,000 on $4 million in sales. The company recently launched a CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). game pack based on New Line Cinema's ``Lost in Space'' film and the 1960s television series of the same name. Sound Source shares closed unchanged Wednesday at $1.75. |
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