Picking Up The Pieces

 

Beginning in January 1979, with nothing but the founders' hard-earned cash, Applied Technology Ventures Inc. has been building its electronics empire, distressed company by distressed company. So far, two paths have been taken -- one into point-of-sale computerized restaurant and hotel systems such as those for McDonald's Corp. and Marriott Corp., the other into computerized business office systems. Here is how the parts have been fitted together since then.

Hospitality (Restaurant and Hotel) Group:

* March 1979: ATV gets 80% of HLx Data Systems, maker of fine-restaurant computer systems, from Chapter 11 arrangement. HLx now is part of ATV's Computerized Restaurant Systems' line as ATV Epicure.

* June 1981: ATV's Computerized Restaurant Systems buys assets of General Telephone & Electronics Corp.'s GTE Comp.-Acct., maker of POS computer systems, for cash. Products are now carried as ATV Medallion and Comp.-Acct.

* September 1981: ATV acquires 50% of Computerized Lodging Systems, a software vendor of hotel reservation, phone billing, and back-office operations systems, for cash considerations.

* October 1981: ATV's Computerized Restaurant Systems buys 100% of the Documentor Division of AM International Inc. for cash, which now is manufacturing two ATV Documentor restaurant systems.

* December 1981: ATV buys 100% of Delta Systems for cash and contingency payments up to $250,000. ATV Delta manufactures electronic cash registers.

* January 1982: ATV acquires 60% of Integrated Business Systems, developer of restaurant back-office applications, for cash and certain contingent payments.

* December 1982: ATV acquires 80% of Evolution Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of minicomputer database management systems, out of Chapter 11.

Office Information Group:

* July 1981: ATV acquires assets of Business Systems Division of Memorex Corp., a manufacturer and seller/lessor of IBM peripheral equipment, for cash and notes, now renamed Computer Leasing.

* December 1981: ATV acquires 100% of Equivest for cash and ATV shares. Equivest leases mainframe computer equipment.

* January 1982: ATV enters Chapter 11 agreements with both Digital Scientific Corp. and Findex. The former supplies computer systems for scientific and business applications, the latter manufactures portable microcomputers.

* March 1982: ATV buys 100% of Jacquard Systems Division from AM International Inc. for cash and certain contingent payments. Now called ATV Jacquard, the company manufactures multifunction office-automation systems.

* May 1982: ATV enters into Chapter 11 agreement for reorganization of publicly held Sci-Pro, a manufacturer of back-office systems.

* October 1982: ATV negotiates for the assets of New World, a maker of disk drives, out of Chapter 7 liquidation. The negotiations were suspended in February 1983.