Irving Gould

Commodore International Ltd. yesterday named a new president, Mehdi Ali, who has been a managing director of Dillon, Read & Co., Commodore's investment bank. Ali, 43, a Commodore director since August, has served as a "special adviser" to the West Chester computer company for three years, during which the firm has staged a dramatic upturn. Ali will be Commodore's first president since 1987, when company chairman Irving Gould assumed the post. Gould will remain chief executive officer.

Atari's purchase of a retail store chain that's a major U.S. distributor for Atari's rival, Commodore International, could have a negative effect on West Chester-based Commodore, an analyst said today. Jay D. Samstag, vice president and technology anaylst for Duff & Phelps, a Chicago brokerage firm, added that the purchase of Federated Group by Atari could become really nasty because Jack Tramiel, Atari's chief executive, left his job as Commodore's president two years ago on less than friendly terms.

Commodore International Ltd., which replaced the top management of its North American operations in April, yesterday said it had created a new top post for its North American subsidiary and hired an outsider to fill it. Max Toy, now with ITT Corp. in Los Angeles, will become president and chief operating officer of Commodore Business Machines Inc., said Irving Gould, chairman and chief executive officer of Commodore International. General manager Al Duncan and senior vice president Richard McIntyre, the highest-ranking executives in Commodore Business Machines since their appointment in April, will report to Toy, Gould said.

Commodore International Ltd. today named its chairman and biggest shareholder, Irving Gould, to step in as chief executive in place of Thomas A. Rattigan, who has resigned and sued the company, claiming breach of contract. Rattigan, 49, who helped bring the computer manufacturer back to profitability after heavy losses in recent years, filed the suit in federal court here, according to his attorney, George Bresler. Bresler declined to discuss the suit further. The Wall Street Journal reported in today's editions that Rattigan was seeking more than $9 million in damages.

Commodore International Ltd., the computer company whose North American operations are in West Chester, said yesterday that sales in its most recent quarter were the second-largest it has ever had, owing to very strong sales in Europe. The company's profits in the second quarter of its fiscal year more than tripled to $36.5 million from its earnings in the same period the year before. Commodore also benefited from the effect of a weaker dollar overseas. The company's European sales continued to grow as a percent of overall revenues - climbing to 85 percent of the total from 75 percent in the second quarter the year before.

Commodore International Ltd. said yesterday that it expected a fourth- quarter loss of $12 million, an announcement that sent the company's stock price reeling. The stock dropped $1.875 a share to $10.875 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange, after having fallen from $17.75 since June 28. That was the date that the company said it would report either a small profit or a small loss for the quarter. The loss is a setback for the company, which had staged a strong comeback since a bout with near-bankruptcy in 1985 and 1986.

Commodore International Ltd. shareholders yesterday approved issuance of 3 million more shares - an increase of about 9 percent - to be used in a stock- incentive plan for "certain key employees. " Other than employees, just one shareholder attended the meeting at a posh private resort here, according to that shareholder, Philadelphia lawyer Richard Ash, and a Commodore employee who said he came to the meeting at his own expense. Ash said directors rejected his suggestion to adjourn the meeting and move it to New York City, where more shareholders would be able to attend.

Commodore International Ltd. logged its fifth-straight profitable quarter in the three months ended June 30, turning a slim profit of $2.1 million, nearly twice the profit the company had in the same quarter last year. But revenues declined to $190.4 million from the $208.6 million recorded in last year's June quarter, as a slide in U.S. sales persisted. "Europe was ahead (of last year's June-quarter revenues), but the U.S. was behind again," said Irving Gould, chairman and chief executive officer of the West Chester-based company, which makes personal computers.

Turmoil continued yesterday at the West Chester headquarters of Commodore International Ltd. with the layoffs of about 50 administrative personnel. The layoffs, which came one day after the computer maker named replacements for both its chief executive officer and the head of its U.S. operations, were intended to "significantly improve operating efficiency," said chairman and chief executive officer Irving Gould. Gould, the Canadian investor who owns 19.8 percent of Commodore stock, assumed the chief executive's post Thursday, saying the U.S. operations needed to be shaped up to match the company's successful European operations.

Commodore International Ltd. said yesterday that it had reached a new agreement in principle with its bankers that guarantees the computer-maker a $135 million line of credit for the next year. The agreement removes a major cloud over the future of the West Chester company, which had been operating under the close supervision of its banks since June, when its working-capital and net-worth ratios fell below the limits required under the terms of its bank loans. The company said it expected the new agreement to be formalized and signed as soon as possible.

Less than a week before beginning the liquidation of Commodore Computer last May, the company's directors paid $2.6 million to extend their liability insurance for three years, Bahamian liquidators have found. The directors' policy, which shields their personal assets from negative legal judgments, would have run out in November had they not purchased the costly three-year extension on April 27, according to sources familiar with the bankruptcy. Chief beneficiaries of the extension are former Commodore chairman and chief executive Irving Gould and president Mehdi R. Ali. The two men are trying to prevent the Bahamian court from approving an agreement between the liquidators and U.S. creditors that would extend the period in which their actions could be reviewed to one year from three months.

Just when it seemed the rebirth of Commodore computers might begin, a new wrinkle has emerged in the 10-month saga of the company's bankruptcy liquidation. The Bahamian liquidators of Commodore International Ltd. fear that Irving Gould and Mehdi R. Ali, former top Commodore executives, may try to block a legal agreement that cleared the way for the company's assets to be sold. "It significantly complicates matters," said Franklyn R. Wilson, one of two liquidators appointed by the Bahamian Supreme Court.

It was a wake in cyberspace. Minutes after Commodore International Ltd., the company that helped launch the personal-computer revolution 15 years ago, said it was going out of business nine days ago, the Commodore faithful tapped into the Internet, CompuServe, GEnie and a host of other on-line services and computer bulletin boards. They came from their bedrooms and dens, from offices and college dormitories, from America and Europe and Australia and Asia, from everywhere people keep desktop computers.

Commodore International Ltd., which once dominated the personal computer market, declared itself out of business yesterday. The announcement capped a disastrous period for the company, which maintained its North American headquarters and much of its corporate staff in West Chester but had its headquarters in the Bahamas. Commodore lost more than $374 million in the 18 months ended Dec. 31. Commodore quietly laid off 47 West Chester employees last week, according to messages posted last night on a CompuServe bulletin board for Commodore computer-users.

Commodore International Ltd., once a powerhouse in the small-computer business, yesterday offered a dismal view of its future, following a quarter in which the red ink continued to gush. In a written statement, the company said its continuing financial problems leave "no assurance that the company can attract additional financial resources and complete a successful restructuring. In the absence of additional resources and a restructuring, the company may become subject to reorganization or other liquidation proceedings.

Commodore International Ltd. last night broke a long silence about its financial performance; shareholders aren't likely to find the news worth the wait. After months of unexplained delay, the company revealed last night that it lost $356 million for the year ended June 30. The staggering loss obliterated its shareholders' equity, which tumbled from $325 million on June 30, 1992, to negative $53.2 million on June 30 of this year. "The company's financial position and operating results raise substantial doubts about the company's ability to continue as a going concern," the report declared in a footnote to a report that normally would have been issued in August.

Struggling Commodore International Ltd. laid off about 80 engineers, programmers and other employees in Chester County yesterday, citing the "severe nature" of "current economic conditions. " A memo to the affected employees said 14 additional jobs were to be eliminated next month. At least 29 of the laid-off workers were engineers, who help devise new products. Thus, their dismissal could signal a bleak view by management of the company's future. Asked about the layoffs, Commodore officals declined to comment.

Commodore International Ltd. yesterday blamed weak markets in Europe, where Commodore sells most of its computers, for lower sales and a loss for the first quarter of the company's fiscal year. The computer manufacturer, based in New York and the Bahamas, did not give any figures from its North American operations, which are based in West Chester. "We are disappointed with our first-quarter results and will continue to concentrate on controlling expenses while focusing our efforts on sales for the Christmas quarter," said Irving Gould, the company's chairman and chief executive.

Commodore International Ltd. yesterday reported lower sales and operational earnings for the third quarter and first nine months of its year. The company's results "were adversely affected by the weak global economic environment," said Commodore chairman Irving Gould. But he also said the West Chester company was encouraged by sales growth for its Amiga and Professional PC products. Much of the third-quarter sales loss was attributed to the company's discontinuing its unprofitable, low-end MS-DOS computers and reduced sales of its Commodore 64 because of the weak economy.

Dan Hess flew from Bellefontaine, Ohio, last week to an annual shareholders meeting in the Bahamas with one question for the directors of Commodore International Ltd. Why wasn't the company advertising its Amiga computer, which he thinks is fantastic, more heavily in the United States? Such commercials could show the machine's capabilities - from word processing to video games to animation. "We could crush Nintendo," Hess, whose family owns about 2,000 shares of Commodore, told company directors.