Anaheim’s Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc., a maker of flexible circuit boards for cell phones and other mobile devices, said it is buying a small British maker of high-tech keypads for up to $20 million.
Multi-Fineline is set to buy Pelikon Ltd., which is privately held.
The company makes flexible display technology that is used to create reconfigurable keypads for smart phones, home appliances and control panels, among other gear.
With phones, the keypad will reconfigure itself depending upon whether the user is sending a text message, making a call, listening to music or taking a photo.
The user can view only the buttons for the task at hand.
“As the complexity of today’s handheld electronic devices increases, the display and user interface are critical in making these products easy to use,” Chief Executive Reza Meshgin said. “We believe that Pelikon has developed a disruptive technology that offers a compelling alternative to current touch screen displays.”
The deal, expected to close by the end of the year, was struck for a sale price of $11 million. Multi-Fineline agreed to tack on up to $9.4 million more if Pelikon makes certain sales goals during the next few years.
Pelikon, which started in 2000, has some 20 workers.
A $120M Day
Irvine’s Blizzard Entertainment Inc., a unit of France’s Vivendi SA, broke its own record for sales of its newest installment of its blockbuster online game “World of Warcraft.”
“World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King” sold roughly 3 million copies within the first 24 hours it was available, according to Blizzard.
In early 2007, Bliz-zard’s previous installment, “World of War-craft: The Burning Cru-sade,” sold 2.4 million copies within a day of its launch.
The record makes the “Lich King” the fastest-selling PC game of all time, Blizzard said.
In celebration of the launch, more than 15,000 stores around the world opened at midnight for diehard fans.
Locally, fans camped out at a Fry’s Electronics in Anaheim last month to buy the game at about $40 a pop.
Out of Business
Aliso Viejo-based High Tower Software Inc., a startup maker of security software for business and government agencies, appears to have gone out of business.
The company shut its doors a few weeks ago and is seeking a buyer of its technology, according to tech news Web site SoCalTech.com.
Several calls and e-mails to a spokesperson for High Tower weren’t returned.
High Tower’s software acts as another layer of protection on top of existing security software such as firewalls and virus blockers.
The software makes it easier for companies to limit access to data without using separate password logins or having employees scan identification cards.
The company was started in 1999 by a group of researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that had developed software to analyze data from satellites.
New York-based private equity firm Liberty Partners bought a majority stake in High Tower in 2000.
Other venture backers include Falcon Fund, Hallador Venture Partners LLC, Inroads Capital Partners LP and Tech Coast Angels, among others.
It has raised roughly $24 million in venture funds, according to SoCalTech.
In 2005 it brought in a management team to help the company generate more sales, including a few executives from San Diego’s Websense Inc., an Internet security software company that went public in 2000.
As of March of this year, High Tower had about 50 workers here.
Roughly 20% of its customers are government-related, including the Army, the Department of Defense and various state agencies.
The balance is made up by banks, universities and corporations.
Local customers included Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology Co., Newport Beach’s now bankrupt Downey Financial Corp., Costa Mesa’s Automobile Club of Southern California and Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange.
The company said in an earlier interview with the Business Journal that it expects to see roughly $12 million in sales this year.
Enlightening Exec Changes
A unit of Tustin’s Permlight Products Inc., a maker of cooling engines for light-emitting diode, or LED, lights, has seen a lot of changes in its upper ranks this year.
In May, privately held Permlight hired Michael Keddington as co-chief executive, Michael Bremser as technology chief and appointed Sam Inman chairman.
Inman is chief executive of Lake Forest’s Comarco Inc., which designs and markets slim power adapters that charge notebook computers, digital cameras, cell phones and other mobile gear.
Most recently, the company named William Hamm vice president of sales for North America for its signs division.
Permlight makes light engines and sells them to makers of residential and commercial light fixtures and illuminated signs on buildings.
It operates under two divisions: Permlight for Signs and Brilla.
Permlight’s technology allows LED chips to be directly attached to an isolated circuit board in order to reduce the amount of heat it produces. It buys the chips from Japan’s Nichia Corp.
Permlight has some 40 workers locally and does its manufacturing in Asia.
The company doesn’t disclose sales but said it expects revenue to grow 40% next year.
