Applied Circuit Agrees to Acquire Whiteworth

Applied Circuit Technology Inc., long anxious to broaden its computer parts business, Thursday said it has tentatively agreed to buy Whiteworth International Inc., a Gardena drug maker. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Whiteworth acquisition, Applied Circuit’s third since the end of 1984, is the company’s first attempt to move outside of the high technology industry.

In a prepared statement, Applied Circuit president Walt Menetrey said the company’s bold diversification move would provide a cushion against “the business cycles of the computer markets.” The Anaheim-based company manufacturers equipment used to test the reliability of computer disc drives and companies purchased in the last year produce related products.

Applied Circuit was wounded by the shakeout among computer makers and only returned to profitability last year after receiving a surge of new orders from its two major customers, IBM and Seagate Technology of Scotts Valley.

After the sale is complete, Whiteworth will be operated and managed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Applied Circuit and no plans exist to relocate the company, which employs 150 people, said William R. Crawford, Whiteworth’s president.