Fujitsu Ltd. announced July 31 it will try to purchase all shares of Amdahl stock it does not yet own at $12 per share through an open takeover bid, with the total purchase price expected to be $850 million, pursuant to its definitive merger agreement.

Fujitsu will begin its monthlong takeover bid July 29. Established in 1970, Amdahl has been an independent maker of mainframe computers based in Sunnyvale, California. The merger agreement was unanimously approved by Amdahl directors unaffiliated with Fujitsu, according to Fujitsu officials, who added that the Amdahl name and management team would be retained.

Although Amdahl will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu, there will be no reduction in employment levels as a result of the acquisition, it said. Fujitsu obtained a 24 percent stake in Amdahl in 1972, and currently holds 42 percent of the U.S. company's outstanding shares, Fujitsu officials said. Amdahl has some 9,900 employees and posted sales of $1.63 billion in 1996, up 7.6 percent from the previous year.

Since 1972, Fujitsu has continuously strengthened its ties with Amdahl, and has benefited from the firm's technological advances, it said. The two companies have jointly developed "mission critical" servers, storage and peripheral technologies for the United States and world markets, it said. Fujitsu President Tadashi Sekizawa said in a statement that the acquisition represents an affirmation of Fujitsu's commitment to the enterprise server and storage business and Amdahl's extensive customer base.