The company’s shares (Nasdaq: LINK) had been trading on the over-the-counter market before the Nasdaq debut.
The uplisting “will provide significant benefits, including increased visibility of the company amongst investors, increased access to capital, and potential for greater liquidity,” according to Steve Bronson, president and chief executive officer of Interlink, whose manufacturing sensors are used in the automotive, medical, industrial, and robotics fields, among other sectors. The company’s products include sensor components, sub-assemblies and modules.
The application of its Human Machine Interface technology platforms are used in vehicle entry, vehicle multimedia control interface, rugged touch controls, presence detection, collision detection, speed and torque controls, biological monitoring and other applications.
Interlink Electronics shares rose swiftly after the March 25 debut, giving the company a market cap that has been hovering a little over $100 million. The company had said previously that fourth-quarter net revenue was $1.9 million, up 15% from the prior year period, while net income for the quarter was $53,000.
Raise Capital
“We envision that we’ll use our stock as currency, i.e., either raise capital and-or part of consideration in a future acquisition,” Bronson told the Business Journal on March 26, the day after the trading start.
“We are definitely committed to doing acquisitions where it makes sense,” Bronson told the Business Journal.
“I would say over the next 12 months we will definitely be pursuing an acquisition.”
Bronson said his goal is to make the company “substantially larger than where we are today.”
Interlink is just the latest in tech and tech-related company from Orange County with an eye on major market listings.
On March 25, the same day that Interlink started Nasdaq trading, TV maker and media company Vizio Holding Corp. (NYSE: VZIO) in Irvine began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company counts a market cap of more than $4 billion, after closing out 2020 with net income of $102.5 million.
Ad tech company Viant Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: DSP), also in Irvine, went public on Feb. 10 and had a market cap of around $2.9 billion as of last week.
Automobile tech-focused Indie Semiconductor in Aliso Viejo says it foresees becoming a publicly listed company via the SPAC route “in early spring,” with a valuation of $1.4 billion.
“The common link is they plan to raise additional capital to support the growth plans,’’ Bronson told the Business Journal. “We’re in an overall strong market.”
Looking further, Movandi Corp.’s new chief financial officer, Bill Ruehle, says he foresees a possible IPO for the wireless technology company, while a buyout by another company is also possible; see last week’s print edition of the Business Journal for more.
Irvine Base
The Nasdaq listing for Interlink comes after the company moved its headquarters from Ventura County to Irvine last year, when it had a roughly $50 million valuation.
Interlink, which now has its main office in Irvine’s Jenner Business Park, says it has a “truly global footprint,” with presence in multiple countries in Asia, and its own in-house manufacturing facility in Shenzhen, China.
Interlink said in mid-March that it is “weeks away” from launching a new R&D and materials science center in its former base of Camarillo, in Ventura County.
