Symbol Offers to Buy Telxon for $612 Million

Symbol Technologies Inc., a leader in bar-code scanning technology, said it has a “serious interest” in acquiring Telxon Corp. for about $612 million, or $38 a share, in cash and stock. Telxon said it had received Symbol’s letter of interest and would respond in due course. Telxon, which is based in Akron, Ohio, makes hand-held computers, which are increasingly being used as bar-code scanning expands from grocery stores to other industries. Symbol Chief Executive Jerome Swartz said he would prefer a negotiated takeover of Telxon. He declined to elaborate on any communication between the two companies, but he criticized Telxon’s stock performance over the last decade. The news sent Telxon’s stock soaring in heavy trading. It closed up $4.44 at $32.13 on Nasdaq. Holtsville, N.Y.-based Symbol also reported first-quarter earnings of $19.6 million, or 32 cents a diluted share, up 27% from $15.4 million, or 25 cents. Revenue jumped 20% to $213.3 million. Symbol’s stock rose $1.31 to close at $37.31 on the NYSE.