Rosscomp Corp. of Costa Mesa began 1985...

Rosscomp Corp. of Costa Mesa began 1985 by announcing plans to expand its international operations. The maker of small-size, high-capacity streaming tape drives used for storing computer data, said it has signed agreements to produce and market products in Brazil and other South American countries.

It also has contracted with Gateway Technology of Great Britian to locate qualified distributors and contact equipment manufacturers in the United Kingdom and common market countries.

Rod Hosilyk, Rosscomp president, said Wednesday in a statement that under the terms of a letter of intent with Microlab S.A. of Brazil, Rosscomp initially will ship complete units, but eventually ship parts for assembly there. Microlab will complete the assembly and market the products in Brazil and other South American markets.

Hosilyk said Nissho Iwai, a major trading company headquartered in Tokyo, now is marketing the company’s 5-1/4-inch form factor half-inch streaming tape drives under the Rosscomp label in Japan. These high capacity, low-cost drives are built under license by Nippon Columbia to Rosscomp specifications.

Rosscomp went public in 1984.