Investors Seek Controlling Computer Memories Share

A Beverly Hills-based investor group disclosed Tuesday that it hopes to gain control of Computer Memories by acquiring the 15.6% stake in the Chatsworth company held by Intel Corp., the largest shareholder.

The investor group, which includes Cantor, Fitzgerald & Co. executives Bertram R. Cohen and Jay Goldinger, said it already owns 8.4%, or 930,100 shares, of Computer Memories and that it would retain the company’s current management.

Cohen added, however, that Intel indicated his group is one of four parties to express an interest in buying its 1.73 million shares. Officials of Intel, a giant Santa Clara-based semiconductor company, declined to comment, and Computer Memories’ executives could not be reached.

The morning announcement by the Beverly Hills group didn’t appear to affect Computer Memories’ stock. In the over-the-counter market, Computer Memories closed Tuesday at $2.31, unchanged from Monday, on a relatively light trading volume of 60,100 shares.

Until last year, Computer Memories was one of the nation’s leading makers of hard disk drives, which retrieve and record information on rigid disks for personal computers. Its business fell apart after IBM decided to stop buying its products, and the company has been liquidating assets this year.

The apparent attractions of Computer Memories are its ready cash and tax benefits. Cohen estimated that Computer Memories has more than $30 million, or about $2.70 a share, in cash and about $15 million in tax-loss carryforwards. Under certain circumstances, an acquiring company could use those carryforwards to lower its taxable income.