Bergen Brunswig Sells Commtron for $78 Million : Finance: By shedding the video unit, the company will be able to focus solely on its drug distribution business.

ORANGE —  Bergen Brunswig Corp. said Monday that it has sold its Commtron subsidiary, the nation’s largest distributor of movie videos, for $78 million to a Nashville-based company.

Bergen is selling its 80% stake in Des Moines-based Commtron Corp. to focus solely on its drug distribution business, which accounts for 90% of the Orange company’s sales and most of its profits.

Ingram Entertainment, a unit of Nashville-based Ingram Industries, has agreed to pay Bergen and other Commtron shareholders $7.75 for each of Commtron’s approximately 10.1 million shares outstanding.

Commtron distributes scores of hit titles to video shops and customers. During 1991, the company marketed “Dances With Wolves,” “Ghost,” “Die Hard 2” and “Kindergarten Cop,” among others.

Commtron employs about 30 people at a Santa Ana distribution facility.

Earlier this month, Bergen announced its plans to quit the movie distribution business and said it was holding talks with Ingram.

The Bergen-Ingram deal was welcomed by Wall Street analysts, some of whom have said that Commtron was a distraction to Bergen’s management and detracted from its core business. Bergen’s stock might be more popular with investors, analysts claim, if the company was more of a “pure play”--stock market lingo for a company that has one line of business.

“Now we’ll see if they are right,” said John T. Fay, a Bergen vice president.

The video distribution business has been soft recently because studios are making fewer movies and video rental shops are driving harder bargains with distributors.

Pharmaceuticals, on the other hand, are doing well in spite of the recession.

Bergen sells everything from Excedrin pain reliever to Hair Net hair spray to pharmacies and hospitals.

“Virtually everything you find in a pharmacy we distribute for all manufacturers,” Fay said.

Last month, Bergen said it had agreed to acquire the pharmaceutical distribution business of Richmond, Va.-based Owens & Minors Inc. for about $50 million in cash. That acquisition will allow Bergen to extend into the mid-Atlantic states.

Robert E. Martini, Bergen president and chief executive, estimated that the acquisition will help his company quadruple annual sales in that region.

“That deal should close by the end of this week,” said Fay, adding that Bergen is eyeing other acquisition candidates.

“The plan is to continue to grow . . . to build more mass in the marketplace,” Fay said.

Currently, Bergen controls about 16% of the wholesale drug distribution market in the United States.

The company has gotten high marks for automated warehouses--including one in Corona--but has been somewhat hurt by pricing changes among drug manufacturers.

For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 1991, Bergen earned $64 million on revenue of $4.8 billion.

Bergen’s stock closed Monday at $18.75, down 13 cents a share, and Commtron closed at $7.50, also down 13 cents a share, in American Stock Exchange trading.

Bergen Brunswig Here are performance figures for Bergen Brunswig for its fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 1991, and the first quarter of fiscal 1992.

(Dollar amounts in millions)

Fiscal 1st Qtr. 1991 1992 Revenue $4,838 $1,304 Earnings $64 $16.9

Location: Orange

Founded: 1969

President: Robert E. Martini

Principal Shareholder: Emil P. Martini Jr. (5% of stock) and Robert E. Martini (7%)

Employees: 3,400

Service: Pharmaceutical distribution