Tramiel ready to buy Atari

JACK Tramiel. Commodore’s founder who resigned suddenly in January, now looks set to buy Atari.

No details of the proposed deal are yet available but Warner Communications. of which Atari is a subsidiary, is negotiating to sell the Atari Home Video and Home Computer Divisions to a new company set up by Tramiel, retaining only Atari’s Coin-operated Game Division.

Warner Communications has been seeking a buyer for its loss-making subsidiary for almost a year. It originally bought Atari from its founder Nolan Bushnell in 1976 for $28m and in 1982 the subsidiary turned in an operating profit of $358m. However, the slump in US video game and home computer sales lead the company to produce an operating loss the following year of $538.6m.

The heavy trading losses have reduced Atari’s worth and the company is now valued between $40 and $120m.