Irvine-based Newport Corp., a maker of lasers used in chip making, scientific research and medical devices, is expecting higher profits after paying off a sizable chunk of debt.
Newport said it took some $19 million from its cash to pay down $20 million in debt at less than face value. It still has about $127 million in outstanding debt due in 2012.
Paying down part of Newport’s debt is expected to nearly double the company’s bottom line and lower its interest expense for the three months through December.
Wall Street analysts, on average, are expecting the company to post fourth-quarter profits of $3 million on sales of $93 million.
Beyond that, the company said it expects to add about $1 million to quarterly profits next year.
In June, Newport swapped part of its business with longtime rival San Jose-based Oclaro Inc.
Under the terms of the deal, Newport acquired a chunk of Oclaro’s business and vice versa.
Only a small amount of money changed hands. Newport paid Oclaro $3 million in cash to account for revenue differences between the two businesses.
The deal helped Newport consolidate some operations in China, cut costs and unload an unprofitable part of its business.
Newport’s customers include the government, research labs, schools and makers of specialized equipment used to produce semiconductors.
Next-Generation USB
Laguna Niguel-based Symwave Inc., a startup maker of chips for transferring data from consumer electronics to computers, recently signed a deal with France’s LaCie Group SA to use its technology for a new storage device.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
LaCie is making a specialized desktop storage device that holds up to 4 terabytes of data.
Symwave makes chips for the next generation of the universal serial bus port, or USB.
The chips help transfer photos, files and video at rates 10 times faster than the current standard, USB 2.0.
“Combining two 2.5- or 3.5-inch hard drives with USB 3.0 enables a full spectrum of storage products with unique selling features that were not possible with USB 2.0,” said Brian O’Rourke, principal analyst at Scottsdale-based In-Stat, a market research unit of Reed Elsevier Group PLC.
In August, Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Standard Microsystems Corp. took a stake in Symwave with a $4 million investment.
The investment comes with an option for Standard Microsystems to acquire Symwave.
The Business Journal estimates that Symwave has raised around $15 million in venture funding so far. The private-ly held company doesn’t disclose any financial details.
Emulex’s Licensing Deal
Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp., a maker of electronics for data storage networks, recently inked a licensing deal with San Jose-based Alacritech Inc.
Terms of the deal, which gives Emulex access to Alacritech’s patent portfolio, weren’t disclosed.
Emulex is set to use Alacritech software, which does what’s known as “offloading” or taking data from a single converged network and delivering it in different ways.
The deal is part of Emulex’s push to market what’s called converged network adapters, which allow several types of data traffic to travel over a single wire.
Emulex said it has nabbed dozens of design wins with large server makers, including IBM Corp.
Integrien Executive
Irvine-based Integrien Corp., a startup maker of software that helps manage e-commerce, stock trading and other programs that are costly if they go down, recently hired a business development executive.
The company tapped Ian Dodd as vice president of strategy and business development.
He previously ran the global operations and enterprise automation group for IBM.
Dodd has a track record of getting involved early in startups centered on data center technologies in the U.S., Britain and China.
Earlier this month, Integrien was granted its second U.S.-patent for technology that proactively manages company’s information technology systems and services.
It has nearly a dozen additional patents pending.
In August, Integrien raised $6.5 million in a third round of venture funding for about $30 million to date.
Bits and Pieces
Irvine-based chip startup RFaxis Inc., a maker of specialized cell phone chips, received what it said was its first multimillion-dollar order from Asian distributor EDOM Technology Co. RFaxis targets what’s known as front-end circuitry, the most finicky part of a circuit board … San Jose-based Acer America, a unit of Taiwanese PC maker Acer Inc. that bought Irvine-based Gateway Inc. in 2007, launched a Ferrari One notebook PC for consumers. The computer offers the “same exquisite details and performance features celebrated by Scudetto Ferrari, the world’s most prestigious racing team.” It sells for about $600 … With an eye on opportunities in China, chip executives are expecting sales growth, but lagging job growth next year, according to a global survey conducted by KPMG LLP, a Los Angeles-based audit, tax and consulting company.
