Technology incubator Odetics Inc. may sell its Anaheim property and Walt Disney Co. could figure into a possible sale.
At the recent Roth Capital Partners LLC Growth Stock Conference in Laguna Niguel, Odetics Chief Executive Joel Slutzky told analysts and investors that the company is seeking a “liquidity event” that could include the sale of the 13.64 acres the company has at 1550 S. Manchester Ave. in Anaheim. The property is across the street from the Disneyland Resort.
“If they are going to sell, it would seem that Disney would be a logical buyer,” said broker Jack Faris of Voit Commercial Brokerage.
The Odetics site could fetch $24 million if sold at the area’s prevailing market price, according to Faris. Depending on any plans Disney might have for the property, Odetics could make more than that, he said.
Disney officials weren’t available for comment.
In a follow-up interview, Slutzky confirmed the company could be selling the property. He declined to comment on whether Disney would be the logical candidate but did say, “Disney wouldn’t be sthe only potential buyer.”
Slutzky said a deal is not imminent but could take place within a year. He declined to elaborate on where Odetics might relocate its headquarters in the event of a sale.
The prospect of a property sale underscores a hard fact facing Odetics: its operation of forming and spinning off companies hasn’t been all that fruitful lately. The last company Odetics spun off,and a blockbuster at that,was ATL Products in 1997. Milpitas-based Quantum Corp subsequently bought ATL.
Since then, Odetics has been working with internal companies and last year planned an initial public offering for Iteris,a unit that makes products for automobile computers. Around the time the company planned the offering in the spring of last year, the market soured and Odetics shelved its plans.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Odetics reported a $20 million net loss, which included $9.4 million in charges relating to the company’s plan to lay off 25% of its work force and reorganize its expenses.
“Because our strategy calls for us to go to the capital markets, we have found it difficult to purse some of our operations,” Slutzky said.
A property sale would give Odetics an injection of cash to fund operations.
“I would think that the opportunity to generate cash through a sale of real estate would put them in a good position,” said Patrick Winton, the Roth Capital analyst who moderated the session in which Slutzky made his comments.
Another potential buyer could be the developer behind Pointe Anaheim, a shopping and hotel complex. Anaheim Center for Entertainment LLC, which is heading the development, has been an aggressive buyer in the area.
“I can understand why Odetics would want to get out of the area,it’s not in a technology area,” said Robert Shelton, the project manager for Pointe Anaheim. “We could be interested. It would depend on the price.”
