March 25, 1995 The Sam Report

     I had a nice chat with Alex Amor of CEI today.  He is aware that I
 report for Genie so this is cleared for release.

     The auction will begin April 20th in New York and will last about a
 week.  It now appears clear that the remaining interested parties
 are pursuing separate, non-conflicting, parts of the overall package
 (Commodore name, set-top technology, Amiga manufacture, etc.).  It seems
 there is a pre-auction agreement (or at least an understanding) among the
 parties that whoever wins will gladly provide the others with the pieces
 they want.  Only CEI plans to manufacture Amigas.

     Once again, Alex mentioned the caveat that "somebody could come out of
 the woodwork and surprise us all" but he seemed less concerned about this
 than previously.  He mentioned having an excellent information network
 that keeps an eye out for entities that might be lurking in the shadows
 ready to make a last-minute grab.  Those sources indicate no lurkers at
 present.

     The Gould/Ali matter is not a complication at all in the sale process.
 The creditors will go after them in a totally separate action that in no
 way affects the sale at auction.

     He had no comment on the report that IBM was lined up as the contract
 manufacturer (said he couldn't discuss that).  He referred to contracts
 for components that are valid and would be rescinded only if CEI doesn't
 prevail.

     He confirmed my earlier report that talks have been held with Tandy
 (the owners of the huge Computer City and Radio Shack chains in the USA
 --over 6500 stores!-- Josh) and could develop into a distribution reality.

     Again, initial production calls for A4000Ts and A1200s.  The latter
 will be getting a larger case for more internal expansion, but that might
 not happen immediately.

     Alex, in shorts and sneakers, went back to attending to store
 customers on a busy Saturday morning.  As always, he appeared full of
 optimism.  "By the 27th it will all be over!".

     This has been the Sam Report from Miami for GEnie and Amiga Link.

                                   Sam Ormes