Penn Central Corp. said it had signed...

Penn Central Corp. said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Republic American Corp. of Encino in a $249-million merger. The companies said in a joint statement that they expect to complete the deal in early 1989, assuming that they receive required approvals from regulators and the holders of two-thirds of Republic American’s outstanding common stock. Republic American, which sells workers’ compensation insurance in California, has about 18.4 million common shares outstanding. Cincinnati-based Penn Central, a telecommunications and defense systems company, already owns 14.3% of those common shares and has committed to pay $15.75 each in cash for the rest.