Franklin Telecom’s Talks With CEO Fail

Franklin Telecommunications Corp. in Westlake Village says that extended negotiations with Chief Executive Robert Stewart have failed to produce an agreement to extend Stewart’s tenure.

The company will name an interim chief executive shortly.

Franklin Chairman Frank Peters also announced that he will retire this year, and he confirmed that the company is seeking a merger partnership.

“Franklin’s hardware and software products are valuable assets,” Peters said. “We are exploring partnership possibilities with other high-tech companies in which our products can fill a niche [and save] our potential partner major expenditures of time and capital on research and development.”