It could be that Deutsche Bank AG is right to be worried that Nixdorf Computer AG might end up in foreign hands. Following rumours – denied in all quarters – that Nixdorf was about to be acquired by Mannesmann AG, it is now being whispered that the Paderborn-based company is currently being visited by numerous executives from AT&T, and that they are having a very close look at the company. Nixdorf spokesman Ian Robb confirmed again that the structure of Nixdorf – largely owned by Nixdorf family trusts – would make a hostile bid impossible, but, as with much of West German industry, real control resides not with shareholders but with bankers, in the case of Nixdorf, Deutsche Bank, which ultimately holds the purse strings, and would certainly step in and take a proactive role if it believed that the state of the company was approaching that of Wang Laboratories Inc before its late summer crisis. Despite its big disappointment with Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, getting closer to Nixdorf would make sense for AT&T, which is now committed to use hardware from Pyramid Technology in its own Unix line, and could therefore integrate Nixdorf’s Pyramid-based Targon operation in Europe with ease. And if it doesn’t come to a full takeover, simply a friendly investment, AT&T could well strike up a deal with Nixdorf to supply it with Pyramid/Targon systems direct for the European market, something that could explain the AT&T visit, according to Ian Robb. Pyramid spokesman Doug Free of Pyramid said it would make no difference to Pyramid if AT&T used Nixdorf as the European source for systems.
