Irvine-based printed circuit board maker Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc. will consolidate its factories in China and close a research and development center in the U.K. as part of a restructuring plan intended to return the company to profitability.
The company, better known as M-Flex, expects to save about $50 million annually by consolidating its assembly operation into two manufacturing plants in Suzhou and shuttering its R&D lab in Cambridge, U.K.
The production equipment and vacated buildings owned by M-Flex will be sold. The company said the restructuring will reduce its total manufacturing floor space by about a third.
It said it expects to take a charge of $40 million to $60 million in write-downs in the March and June quarters for liabilities associated with the initiative. It also expects to take a $14 million hit for building improvements in those quarters.
The company said the moves, expected to be completed by June, will bring it back to profitability.
