Unova quietly grows into a big, profitable enterprise.

Think of L.A.'s largest public companies, and names like Walt Disney Co., Mattel Inc. and Times Mirror Co. spring to mind.

But what about Unova Inc.?

With more than $1.4 billion in revenues last year, the Beverly Hills-based company, which makes automobile manufacturing machinery and bar-code readers and printers, is the 25th largest public company in Los Angeles County. The firm's chairman and chief executive, Alton J. Brann, is one of the region's best-compensated executives, pulling in some $9.3 million last year, more than the top executives at Atlantic Richfield Co., Times Mirror and Kaufman & Broad Home Corp.

But if you've never heard of Brann or Unova, you're not alone. One of the largest businesses in town didn't even exist a year ago. Unova was spun off from Western Atlas in October 1997, so that Western Atlas could concentrate on its core oil-field business. (Western Atlas, which was originally spun off from Litton Industries Inc., has agreed to be acquired by competitor Baker Hughes Inc. for $5.1 billion, though the merger still must be approved by shareholders.)

The spin-off of Unova was unusual because its two core businesses are growing at a much faster rate than Western Atlas' oil-field operations, according to Brann.

"A lot of companies that are doing spinoffs are not spinning off quality businesses," Brann said. "Frequently the spun-off business is not a very exciting business. In our case, that has not been the case."

Unova is involved in two separate businesses. One division, Lamb, makes the machinery used to make automobile parts, such as transmission housings and cylinder heads. Its customers include the Big Three automakers in Detroit, near where the Lamb division is headquartered.

The other division, Intermec, makes barcode printers, readers and storage devices, as well as radio tracking devices. based in Everett, Wash., its customers include PepsiCo Inc., Black & Decker Corp. and Apple Computer Inc.

Both divisions have been on an acquisition streak since Unova was formed.

In April, the company announced it was buying R&B Machine Tool Co., a Saline, Mich.-based manufacturer of machinery to make small parts for automobiles, such as brake components. Then earlier this month, Unova completed the acquisition of the radio frequency identification unit of Dallas-based Amtech Corp.

Even before Unova's spin-off, Western Atlas was making acquisitions to boost the divisions that eventually would make up the new company. In February of last year, it bought Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Norand Corp. for $340 million. Western Atlas assigned $203 million of that sum to research and development. Western Atlas also took an R&D charge for technology it acquired from IBM Corp.

Those acquisitions resulted in an R&D charge of $211.5 million for 1997 for the divisions that would become Unova. Because the technologies benefited only those divisions, Unova took on the debt when it was spun off.

The acquisitions also resulted in a net loss of $171.4 million for the year ended Dec. 31. The losses came in a year when the company had $1.4 billion in revenues - up 22.5 percent from 1996. (The figures are based on Unova's businesses broken out as parts of Western Atlas prior to the merger.)

"This year we plan to be profitable," Brann said. "The analysts out there expect us to make about $1.05 a share. At this point in time, we're comfortable with that."

Analysts, indeed, appear to be sold on Unova.

"I like the stock, I like the outlook, I like the management," said Walter Liptak, vice president of Cleveland-based McDonald & Co., which rates Unova a strong buy. "It's all around the kind of thing you want to look for in this market."

Unova's stock was trading at just under $22 a share last week, but Liptak gives the company a 12-month target price of $30 a share, particularly given his expectations that the automobile business will pick up over the next few years.

Steven Katz, an analyst with Schroder & Co. Inc., said he too expects Unova to do well in the automobile machinery business. "They're backlogged and growing and continuing to grow, and that's despite the recent news of GM strikes and the merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler," he said.

As Unova grows, acquiring smaller companies in its two industries, will it follow its two predecessors in spinning off one of its businesses? Analysts say it's just a question of when - and company officials say it's not out of the question.

"We've done it twice before," Brann said. "If it makes sense to spin off, we have the track record to do it."

Unova Chronology 

June 1993: Litton Industries announces it will spin off its oil field services and industrial machinery businesses as Western Atlas.

March 1994: Spin-off of Western Atlas is completed. Litton moves to Woodland Hills, and Western Atlas stays at Litton's old Beverly Hills headquarters.

October 1997: Western Atlas, with revenues having grown to $3.2 billion, spins off its industrial machinery and bar-code technology businesses as Unova Inc. The new company stays in Beverly Hills, while Western Atlas moves to Houston.

April 1998: Unova announces it will buy R&B Machine Tool Co., a Michigan-based company. The purchase is valued at about $80 million.

June 1998: Unova acquires the radio frequency identification business of Amtech Corp. for $31 million. The division had 1997 revenues of $52 million.