NEW YORK -- The American Stock Exchange said Wednesday that it has decided to delist Class B and Class C Common stock issued by Wang Laboratories Inc.
The exchange said it made the decision in light of a reorganization plan Wang filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston.
The ASE said the last day of trading for Wang Class B and Class C common shares will be Wednesday, March 31. But the company's listed debentures will continue to be traded on the exchange.
The ASE cautioned brokers and prospective investors to thoroughly review Wang's public disclosures concerning the reorganization plan and carefully consider the many uncertainties regarding the value of the company's presently outstanding classes of common stock. Under Wang's reorganization plan, ownership of the company will be transferred to certain classes of creditors in satisfaction of their claims.
All of the common stock in the reorganized Wang will be issued to general unsecured creditors, including debenture-holders.
Holders of Wang's current Class B and C common stock, who will be treated the same under the plan, will be issued seven-year warrants to purchase, on a fully diluted basis, 20 percent of the common stock in the reorganized company.
Wang's reorganization plan calls for the Lowell, Mass.-based high- tech company to stop manufacturing computers and hardware and focus its resources on producing imaging and related office software and network integration and support services,
The moves envisioned by management -- and backed by the committee of creditors -- would eliminate another 3,300 jobs from Wang's current workforce of around 9,300. About half of the workers to be laid off work at Wang facilities in the United States.
Founded in 1951 by Dr. An Wang, a Chinese immigrant who invented magnetic computer memory, the company was a major player in the high- tech industry but began slipping in the mid-1980s.
Its downfall came when the industry shifted away from the minicomputer and proprietary systems that Wang offered toward smaller personal computers or open systems that accommodate varied vendor technologies. By the late 1980s, Wang began reporting heavy losses. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Aug. 18.
