Tustin-based MTI Technology Corp. has some spending money coming.
The company recently said it’s raising $20 million in financing through a private placement led by Boston-based investment firm Advent International Corp.
The money will be used to support operations and growth, among other general corporate purposes, the company said.
MTI sells data management software from EMC Corp., which also is an investor in the company.
“We are very pleased with Advent’s continued support of MTI and we look forward to strengthening an already strong partnership,” said Thomas Raimondi, MTI’s chief executive. “With Advent’s continued strategic and financial support, we believe we are well positioned to focus on improving the financial metrics of our business within our growth strategy, and ultimately, driving shareholder value.”
It’s been a tough year for MTI.
Operating losses grew to $2.1 million in the quarter ended July 2, up from $1.7 million a year earlier. That was despite a 50% increase in revenue to $39.3 million.
In March, the company lost three board members amid a battle for control of Lindon, Utah-based Canopy Group Inc., the investment company started by former Novell Inc. chief executive Ray Noorda.
Canopy is MTI’s biggest shareholder at about 40% of the company.
Two of the MTI directors resigned on March 10. The third, Huntington Beach’s Valerie Noorda Kreidel, Noorda’s daughter, shot herself on March 17, according to the Orange County Coroner.
Shares of MTI were trading at $1.75 at recent check, giving the company a market value of about $62 million.
Acacia Jumps on Sony Pact
Shares of Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. rose 5% after the company said it inked a licensing deal with Sony Corp.
The technology covered by the licensing deals relate to a noise reduction filtering system for digital video compression, and for video and audio signals received by digital radios and video displays.
The agreement with Sony resolves a patent infringement lawsuit that was pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Acacia acquires patents related to audio and video transmission, imaging and other technologies. It then targets companies that it believes is violating its patents and files lawsuits against those that don’t sign licensing pacts.
Looking for Nice Spot
Irvine-based Gateway Inc. said that it plans to open a plant at a U.S. site that it hasn’t picked yet.
The computer maker said 300 workers will staff the plant initially. The facility could grow “significantly,” Chief Executive Wayne Inouye said in a statement.
Gateway officials are talking with state and local officials at several locations. The company expects to name the site during the fourth quarter.
Gateway said it’s talking to potential partners and still is deciding whether it will operate the plant as a joint venture or as a company-owned operation.
The plant will assemble made-to-order servers and desktop and laptop computers. The company said it decided to build the plant after winning a number of government, education and business computer pacts.
This year Gateway has won deals to supply computers to the University of Arizona, Navy and Los Angeles Unified School District, among others.
Meanwhile, Gateway also said that John Goldsberry will take over as chief financial officer at the end of the month.
Goldsberry, the company’s operations chief since joining the computer maker six months ago, is set to replace Rod Sherwood, who announced his retirement from Gateway earlier this year.
Goldsberry, former chief financial officer of TrueSpectra Inc. and Good Guys Inc., was hired as chief financial officer by eMachines Inc. in early 2004. He led negotiations that resulted in Gateway buying eMachines last year.
Sherwood was a Gateway worker who transitioned to Irvine after eMachines chief executive Inouye took over the former Poway-based company. Inouye replaced many top Gateway executives with those from eMachines after taking over.
Gateway shares slumped earlier this month after the company lowered its 2005 earnings forecast. The computer maker cited pressure from competition.
Taking Off Again
This will be my last column for the Business Journal. I’m joining the Los Angeles bureau of Dow Jones Newswires, starting Sept. 12.
I’ll be covering a wide swath of business sectors in Southern California, including entertainment, finance and technology. I’ll also be continuing my business school studies at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.
This will be the second time I’ve left the Business Journal, having departed the first time a year ago to work for our sister paper, the Los Angeles Business Journal.
I’d like to thank all of my sources and colleagues who helped make my second tour of duty at the Business Journal an excellent one. I’m sure I’ll be talking to all of you soon.
I’d especially like to thank my editors, Mike Lyster and Mike Mason, and the Business Journal’s publisher, Richard Reisman, for their support during the past year as I’ve pursued graduate school.
My colleague Brian Womack will be taking over this column next week. Brian has extensive experience covering technology for the Dayton Business Journal in Ohio and the Idaho Business Review and Idaho Press Tribune in Boise.
OC tech coverage in the Business Journal will be in very good hands.
