QPC Lasers: back from the brink
QPC Lasers, the Californian maker of high-power laser diodes, has emerged from near-bankruptcy to continue operating under new ownership.
On June 1, a limited liability corporation (LLC) known as Laser Operations acquired all of the assets belonging to Quintessence Photonics Corporation, the operating subsidiary of QPC Lasers, Inc.
According to its official statement, the new company will "leverage its financial stability and the deep business and managerial experience of its ownership group to support the customer base acquired from Quintessence".
It will pursue applications in the medical, industrial, defense and consumer display markets, which it sees as uniquely suited for the semiconductor laser technologies and products acquired via the deal.
No details about the new owners are available yet, although a spokesman for QPC indicated that they comprise senior managers and executives from related niches within the high-technology sector.
Back in late 2008, bankruptcy proceedings had looked imminent for QPC. On October 12, the company was forced to suspend operations and cut employee numbers to a minimum after failing to raise sufficient funding to continue.
Later the same month, QPC failed to make an interest repayment on a secured promissory note held by its senior creditor, Finisar.
With further defaults on secured convertible debentures following, and Finisar s legal representatives demanding repossession of QPC assets, a bankruptcy filing appeared inevitable.
But on May 13, the previously unknown Laser Operations emerged to acquire all of Finisar s rights under the loan agreement, worth about $6 million in total.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated May 19, Laser Operations then arranged to conduct a public sale of QPC assets at a Los Angeles law firm "“ scheduled for June 1.
Following that event, at which Laser Operations made a successful bid of around $750,000 for the remaning assets, QPC was re-born under the new ownership structure. It now intends to show off its laser products at the Laser: World of Photonics trade show, which takes place later this month in Munich, Germany.
Under its new guise, the company will exhibit its high power Brightlase and Brightlock fiber-coupled products for surgical, sensing, and pumping applications.
