Bel Fuse urges Power-One to sell business unit to remain financially viable

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 13 - Power-One, Inc. shareholder Bel Fuse Inc. said it has doubts about the company's ability to remain financially viable and suggests that Power-One divest one or more of its business units to reduce debt.

The comments were made in a June 9 letter to Power-One's board of directors.

Bel Fuse believes that if Power-One continues to perform as it did in the most recently completed fiscal quarter, with cash and cash equivalents decreasing $7.6 million since Dec. 31, the company will soon be unable to meet its capital requirements, the letter said.

The proceeds from the sale of Power-One's DC/DC business segment, which accounts for less than 20% of sales, would eliminate a "substantial portion" of the company's debt, Bel Fuse said.

"While we have an interest in acquiring the DC/DC converters segment of the company and believe we are a logical choice, our main concern is maximizing Power-One's stock price to the benefit of all of Power-One's stockholders," Bel Fuse stated in its letter.

According to the letter, Bel Fuse, together with its wholly owned subsidiary Bel Ventures Inc., is one of Power-One's largest stockholders, with a 5% ownership interest.

In March, Bel Fuse told Power-One it would make a perfect partner because the companies have similar product families and complementary technologies.

Bel Fuse is a Jersey City, N.J., electronics company.

Power-One designs and manufactures power conversion and power management products. The company is located in Camarillo, Calif.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.