Citicorp Claims Victory in Bid to Buy Quotron

Citicorp proclaimed victory Monday in its $680-million tender offer for Quotron Systems, announcing that it has bought 55% of Quotron’s stock and expects to acquire most or all of the rest by the end of this week.

However, a Citicorp spokesman said the New York-based banking firm had not decided when it would exercise control over Quotron, a Los Angeles-based provider of electronic stock quotations and other financial information. The spokesman, John Maloney, said the issue of control is “really not a major question” because Citicorp plans to retain Quotron’s current management.

Citicorp’s announcement of victory ends a three-month tussle between the two firms. Citicorp, wanting Quotron as part of an ambitious expansion in the financial information industry, launched its $19-a-share tender offer last month after Quotron rejected as inadequate the banking firm’s original cash merger proposal, which was made in March for the same price per share.

Quotron also called the second tender offer inadequate, but, in the absence of more attractive competing offers, the information firm said it would not fight the offer. Without competing offers or Quotron management resistance, a Citicorp victory was virtually assured.

Quotron Won’t Comment

Quotron officials said Monday that they would have no immediate comment on the Citicorp announcement.

Citicorp’s Maloney said his firm expects to have acquired all or nearly all of Quotron’s shares by Thursday, when the tender offer expires. The 19.1 million shares purchased so far, constituting 55% of those outstanding, were acquired through an arrangement whereby any shares tendered by last Friday would be paid for Monday, he said.

Maloney said “quite a number” of arbitrageurs--professional investors seeking to profit from the run-up in Quotron’s stock after the Citicorp bid was announced--had asked for such an early payment arrangement.

Analysts have suggested that Citicorp faces a major challenge in retaining Quotron’s management.