(By Balaseshan) Planar Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: PLNR), a provider of specialty display products, said it has sold its electroluminescent (EL) display business to Beneq Oy, and lowered its first quarter revenue forecast.
Under the terms of the transaction, consideration consists of a $6.5 million base purchase price, of which $3.9 million was paid in cash at closing and $2.6 million was paid in the form of a promissory note.
The transaction terms also provide for up to $3.5 million in possible additional cash consideration which can be earned in calendar 2013, 2014, 2015 based upon the EL business achieving certain financial results.
The company will be working with Beneq after the closing to ensure customers are fully supported in the transition. Beneq Oy is a supplier of production and research equipment for advanced thin film coatings.
"The sale of our EL business to Beneq represents an important milestone in the execution of our strategic plan. We were able to add cash to our balance sheet and are now able to focus more of our attention and resources on our digital signage and interactive display product lines," said Gerry Perkel, president and CEO of Planar.
As a result of the sale of the EL business, the company cut its revenue guidance to range of $41 million to $44 million from previous forecast of $44 million to $48 million. Planar still expects adjusted per share results between loss of $0.05 and profit of $0.01, excluding the gain or loss recorded on the sale of the EL business. Street analysts predict loss per share of $0.05 on revenue of $43.50 million.
PLNR is trading up 17.09 percent at $1.37 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $1.12 and $2.60 for the past 52 weeks.