Tadpole takes out another minnow

Is it greedy, or just hungry?

Tadpole Technology, the Cambridge based specialist workstation and mobile computer systems manufacturer is taking out the competition, by taking it over. Tadpole is buying one of its US rivals, RDI, in a $6 million reverse take over. Tadpole’s directors will retain control of the board of the new group. The deal is being funded by way of a rights issue at 10.5 pence per share on a 26 for 25 basis. This is expected to raise £5.35 million – nearly half again the necessary cash for the deal. The rest of the money will be funnelled into the companies Java software operations, and provide further working capital. RDI, a subsidiary of Trigem, competes with Tadpole in the Sun portable workstation market. The company announced losses of $1.21 million on a turnover of $13.1 million in the year to May 1998 before inventory write offs. Following shareholder approval, trading in Tadpole’s shares is expected to resume next month. They had been suspended at 18 pence a share. * Register Tadpolenote 222. One of the staffer’s entire stock of tadpoles in his garden pond was mulleted by two goldfish which obviously thought the fish food did not satify their protein needs…