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Pressured by debt that financed last year's acquisitions, Portland's Concentrex Inc. agreed to be acquired by check printer John H. Harland & Co. for $140 million.
Concentrex, a maker of software used by banks and other financial institutions, assumed the debt just as revenue began to plummet due to banks' preoccupation with Year 2000 issues. With sales slow to return this year, the company found itself in default on covenants made to debtors.
"We had factored in a slow down for the concerns banks had over Y2K; we did not factor in that banks would just stop buying altogether," said Matt Chapman, CEO and chairman of Concentrex.
"We intend to retain key talent," said Vickie Weyand, vice president of communications with Atlanta-based Harland. Weyand declined to further specify whether layoffs might occur at Concentrex.
Chapman said he expected that the bulk of Concentrex' 1,100-employee work force would remain in place. Expect some departures in senior management, including himself, after a period of transition, Chapman said. But the companies lack enough overlap to prompt cost-cutting through work-force reductions, he said.
After posting operating profits for 24 consecutive quarters, Concentrex, previously known as CFI Pro Services Inc., ran...