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Kopin Corporation Announces Agreement to Sell III-V Assets to IQE plc for $75 Million
TAUNTON, Mass. --(Business Wire)--
Kopin® Corporation (NASDAQ: KOPN) today announced that it had entered
into an agreement to sell its III-V assets to IQE plc (LSE: IQE), a
leading UK-based designer and supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers.
The all-cash, $75 million transaction will enable Kopin to focus
exclusively on continued commercial development of Golden-i®,
the Company's mobile communications technology platform, as well as on
its microdisplay products. The closing of the transaction is expected to
occur next week and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Kopin began producing III-V HBTs (heterojunction bipolar transistors) on
gallium arsenide substrates in 1996. These products are part of advanced
integrated circuits that are used in smartphones and other mobile
communications devices. The Company's III-V revenues through the first
nine months of 2012 were approximately $44 million.
"Over the past 17 years, our III-V technology has contributed
significantly to the operational success of Kopin and to advances in the
wireless handset market," said Dr. John C.C. Fan, the Company's
President and Chief Executive Officer. "However, while the III-V product
line is successful we have made the strategic decision to focus on our
Golden-i technology which we believe has great potential. Accordingly,
the board of directors believes that shareholders will be more
effectively served by having the Company focusing its resources on
expanding the commercial development of Golden-i and our display product
line."
Under the terms of the sale, Kopin will receive an up-front payment of
$60 million, subject to certain working capital adjustments, from IQE
and will receive the remaining $15 million in January 2016 on the
three-year anniversary of the transaction. The transaction includes
Kopin's leased III-V product manufacturing facility in Taunton,
Massachusetts as well as the Company's investment in Kopin Taiwan Corp.
(KTC), its 90% owned subsidiary located in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
In October 2012, Kopin achieved a major milestone in its development of
Golden-i technology. Motorola (News - Alert) Solutions launched the HC1, the first
commercially available headset computer powered by the Company's
Golden-i 3.5 reference model. Motorola's product is a ruggedized version
designed primarily for heavy industrial settings.
Now Kopin is teaming with its OEM partners on the development of a
Golden-i platform for the light industrial and professional markets.
This week, Kopin unveiled Golden-i 3.8, a smaller and more powerful
reference design aimed at those markets as well as other users. The new
device was unveiled at the Verizon (News - Alert) booth at the 2013 Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The poerful operating system has 16
times the processing power of the previous version. New features include
a low light, inertial stabilized high-resolution camera to provide
real-time video streams and an accessory infrared camera that provides
emergency personnel and first responders with night vision and thermal
vision capabilities.
"Our plan is to continue to invest in the businesses and technologies
that enable Kopin to capitalize on the significant market for Golden-i,"
Dr. Fan said. "The divestiture of our III-V product line provides us
with the additional financial resources and flexibility to pursue the
strategic growth objectives for Golden-i that ultimately will drive
value for our shareholders."
Dr. Drew Nelson, President and CEO of IQE, said, "Kopin's HBT business
is an ideal strategic fit for IQE, broadening our customer base and
enhancing our product portfolio. This transaction further strengthens
our ability to provide our customers with cost, technology and security
of supply advantages, building on our 21-year history of technology
leadership and manufacturing excellence."
Investor Conference Call
In conjunction with today's announcement, Kopin will host a
teleconference call for investors and analysts at 9:00 a.m. ET today. To
participate, please dial (877) 709-8155 (U.S. and Canada) or (201)
689-8881 (International). The call also will be available as a live and
archived audio webcast on the "Investors" section of the Kopin website, www.kopin.com.
About Kopin Corporation
Kopin Corporation is developing Golden-i®, a proprietary
voice-activated, cloud computing, wireless, hands-free technology with
microdisplay capabilities for use in headset computers. Kopin's
proprietary technologies are protected by over 200 global patents and
patents pending. For more information, please visit Kopin's website at www.kopin.com
and www.mygoldeni.com.
Kopin, CyberDisplay, Golden-i and The NanoSemiconductor Company are
trademarks of Kopin Corporation.
Kopin - The NanoSemiconductor Company®
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this news release about Kopin's sale of its III-V
assets to IQE plc may be considered "forward-looking" statements under
the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These include statements relating to the financial terms of
the transaction and Kopin's strategic plans for Golden-i and its display
products. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to the potential that: the
transaction may not close; events may transpire that will require the
transaction to be modified at closing; future payments owed to Kopin for
the sale of its III-V assets might not be made; the closing of the
transaction being subject to customary closing conditions; there may be
no market demand for Golden-i; manufacturing, marketing or other issues
that may prevent either the adoption or acceptance of Golden-i products;
because Golden-i contains a significant software component, there
may be issues or "bugs" which we cannot correct, which may prevent or
delay the sale of Golden-i; vendors and suppliers, including software
vendors, may discontinue products which are necessary for Golden-i to
function; Motorola, suppliers and vendors may terminate their
involvement in the Golden-i product development which may prevent or
delay the sale of Golden-i products; we may be unable to manufacture
Golden-i products or have the Golden-i product manufactured for us; if
we are able to get the Golden-i manufactured we may not be able to have
it manufactured at a cost which allows us to earn a profit; the
potential that costs to develop and produce the Golden-i may be
significant; manufacturing delays, technical issues, economic conditions
or external factors may prevent the development of and/or sale of
Golden-i; and other risk factors and cautionary statements listed in the
Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form
10-K for the 12 months ended December 31, 2011, and the Company's
subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You
should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company undertakes
no responsibility to update any of these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this report.

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