Polk Audio Inc., a Baltimore-based maker of loudspeaker systems, said yesterday that it is going private, and will delist itself from the American Stock Exchange after it completes a buyback of outstanding shares.

Polk decided to go private primarily because of its small stockholder base and its stock's infrequent trading activity on the exchange, Polk officials said.

The company engineers and manufactures loudspeaker systems for the home and automotive markets. It sells directly through specialty retailers in the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany, and through distributors in about 45 countries.

Polk's shares closed at $11.75 yesterday, up 50 cents. The stock's 52-week high, $22.50, occurred July 17. Its 52-week low was on Feb. 18, when it reached $9.50.

Polk went public in July 1986, when its shares sold for $15.

The company's board of directors approved a tender offer for up to 860,000 shares of Polk's common stock from existing stockholders for $12 a share.

The buy-back will begin Tuesday and will expire at midnight April 30, said George Klopfer, Polk's chief executive officer.

After the tender offer, the company will decide if it should enter merger talks or explore other scenarios, Klopfer said.

"Polk has been [performing] OK, but we've been doing OK against a backdrop of an industry that, at least in the past year or two, has had some difficulties," Klopfer said, adding that economic problems in Asia have significantly affected the industry.

The company began trading on the Nasdaq market, but switched to the American Stock Exchange in June 1996.

"We wanted to create more liquidity," Klopfer said, but stopped short of calling that move unsuccessful.

"Even in hindsight, I wouldn't venture a judgment," he said.

Pub Date: 3/25/99