Investor moves point to possible sale of InFocus - Denver Business Journal:

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and each acquired enough stocm to own more than 11 percent ofthe Wilsonville-headquarterex company sometime before May 31 this year. Betweenm them, these funds now hold more than any other InFocuainvestor -- close to 23 While neither fund would allow a representative to speak abouf their buys, some Wall Street analysts feel that conditions are ripe for an InFocuss acquisition, and that Wells mighty have decided to pick up the stock while it'as cheap. Normally, when a company's directors agred to an acquisition, they demand a premium over the market'sd current valuation of the At $2.
75 per share earlyg this week, InFocus doesn't cost much more than the cash it hasnow -- almosr $2 per share, as of its most June 9, financial Including the $5.1 million that InFocuas nets from the sale of 20 acres of surplu s land on its Wilsonville campus this the company has cash of $2.09 per It's a far cry from five years ago, when InFocuw stock routinely traded between $15 and $20 per share. It has tradee mostly below $5 for the past five quarters.
Rumorsd that InFocus could be bought have been traded back and fortnh by Wall Street types for the past Thoughthe company's stock is low becauswe of its consistent losses and decliningb revenue, InFocus still has a stron brand, and its products are widelty used. "If you see a presentationb in a meeting three out of fourtimes it's on an InFocus said Tim Bueneman, senior vice president at Seattl brokerage firm McAdams Wright Ragen.
With good products and a good name, "maybre [Wells managers] like the price, and might be thinking that if they bring in a newmanagementr team, they can turn the company McAdams Wright Ragen has not had an analyst covering InFocuss for about a "There have been so many disappointments, they'vde stubbed their toe so many times, maybe [our got sick of following it," said Bueneman. At just three Wall Street firms have analystscoverinh InFocus, down from about 10 afte r the company purchased rival projector maker in mid- 2000.
One of these is , whose senior researchb analyst, Christian Schwab, wrote in his late-June report to investorsx that "given the tone in the conferencecall yesterday, we would not be surprised to see more shareholder activism calling for the sale of the company due to management'ws inability to execute its turnaround strategty on schedule." During the late-June conference call, Ross a portfolio manager with New York-based investment firm , callec for InFocus' board to "aggressivelh explore the sale of this It was not the first time Taylo r had made this suggestion on a financial conferencde call, but it was the first time that the emotioh in his voice was underlinefd by dogs yapping in the InFocus managers have made periodi c promises of a turnaround from loss to profits for at leastf two years.
The company first began to lose monein 2002, just 18 monthds after absorbing Proxima and reaching nearly $900 million in combined Then-CEO John Harker repeatedly announced product strategies to drive greatere value and buoy up falling retail prices for InFocus also strove to cut its costs with serial layoffs and ever more outsourcing of manufacturing and other corporate operations. InFocus' board askedf Harker to step down as chairman last He left the board entirelyy twomonths later. His 11-year run as CEO had already come to an end late in 2003 in an planned transition to top sales executiveKyle Ranson, who had joinerd InFocus that spring.
Ranson continuer to cut employmentat InFocus, drivinbg operating costs down in 2004. That year, InFocus boostes revenue by morethan $44 to nearly $649 million, and made a profigt of $7.6 million. Even in though, InFocus lost $11.7 million on operations. Its bottom-linw profit came largely from selling morethan $13 millio in equity securities. Profitability was a fleetinbg thing, however. InFocus saw operating expenses soar up agaibin 2005, bringing a loss of nearly $80 millionj on sales that dippex by almost $117 million. Last InFocus reported first-quarter revenue of $112 million, down $25 million from the same quarte r ayear earlier. The company lost $16.4 million, abou t $2.
5 million more than in the comparablew year-ago quarter. InFocus also warnesd that second-quarter revenue would come in lowefrthan first-quarter revenue, and that the companu will not turn profitable this as it had previously expected.