2 County Companies to Make Stock Offerings

Two Ventura County concerns hope to raise a total of more than $25 million through stock offerings.

One of the companies, The Right Start Inc., a Westlake Village marketer of merchandise for infants and young children, plans to offer its shareholders the right to buy one-fourth of a common share for each share currently held.

The projected purchase price is $3.17 a share. The Right Start hopes to gross $5 million, minus underwriting costs, from the offering.

The other firm, Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. in Camarillo, plans to offer 2 million shares of its common stock.

The shares have been selling in the $12.50 range. This would give the offering a gross value of about $25 million.

The Right Start had a net loss of $628,000, or 10 cents a share, in its latest quarter. The company blamed the deficit on reduced catalog sales and the cost of relocating a warehouse.

Vitesse, a producer of integrated circuits for the communications and test-equipment industries, turned in record sales and profits in its most recent quarter.

Both companies have filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission.