As it works to shut the door on a major financial scandal that has dogged the company for more than a year, International Rectifier Corp. announced a key change to the management team last week.
The El Segundo-based semiconductor maker said that Peter Knepper will take over as acting chief financial officer after the company releases its restated earnings for fiscal year 2007.
International Rectifier is still searching for a permanent chief financial officer. But that search may last for a while.
The company has been embroiled in a financial scandal that has forced it to conduct a major internal investigation, and it is working to restate years of past earnings. For those reasons, many potential candidates for the top accounting position may be scared off, said Steven Smigie, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates Inc.
“There’s a ton of issues that those guys need to deal with and it could be a long time before they get that done,” he said. “When you’ve got a company in this situation, it’s difficult to attract managers because they don’t know what they’re getting into.”
In April 2007, an independent audit committee announced that the company’s Japanese subsidiary had intentionally reported false or unsubstantiated orders on numerous occasions, rendering several years of financial reports unreliable.
International Rectifier, founded in 1947, manufactures computer chips used in a variety of devices, including Sony’s popular PlayStation 3 gaming console.
Since the blunders were made public, Wall Street has not been kind. Its stock has lost nearly half its value in that span, closing April 16 at $21.69.
The company expects to issue a restatement of its 2007 earnings shortly, at which point Knepper will replace the current acting chief financial officer, Linda Pahl.
“We’re still working diligently on the restatement,” said spokesman Graham Robertson. He declined to comment further on the company’s finances.
Knepper is the latest in a series of management changes.
Earlier this month, Michael Barrow was named executive vice president and chief operations officer. He will report to Chief Executive Oleg Khaykin, who assumed the role just two months ago.
Feeling Blue
Blue Microphones, a Westlake Village-based manufacturer of music recording equipment, has been acquired by Los Angeles private equity firm.
Transom Capital Group, which invests primarily in industrial and media companies, plans to take an active role in Blue to help it take advantage of growth opportunities.
Blue, founded in 1995, has become a leading maker of high-quality microphones that are sold in music stores across the country. The company sells a range of mikes, from low-cost USB devices to studio-quality microphones that retail for $10,000.
Skipper Wise, president and co-founder of Blue, said Transom will help the company improve its operational efficiency without compromising the quality of its products.
“From our first meeting they demonstrated that they really understand our business and were willing to roll up their sleeves to help us grow the company,” Wise said in a statement.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Looney Sold
After nearly two decades as a locally owned waste and recycling hauler, Looney Bins has been purchased by a national garbage company.
Houston-based Waste Management Inc., the nation’s largest trash hauler, announced last week it has acquired Looney Bins, as well as two of its L.A.-area recycling facilities Downtown Diversion and East Valley Diversion.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Acquiring Looney Bins and its diversion facilities allows us to provide even greater recycling opportunities for our customers throughout the Southland,” said Larry Metter, vice president of Waste Management’s Los Angeles operations, in a statement.
Looney Bins’ recycling facilities, which handle a wide variety of material including wood, drywall and dirt, have recovery rates over 75 percent higher than most recycling companies.
Euro Push
Hawthorne-based bio-plastic manufacturer Cereplast Inc. announced last week that it has opened a European headquarters in France.
The move, the company said, will help it take advantage of growing demand for sustainable plastic products in Europe amid a widespread “green” movement.
Cereplast designs and manufactures a variety of environmentally friendly plastic products using a resin made from soy and other natural resources.
Heading up the French headquarters will be Jerome Raphanaud, who has worked in the chemical industry for almost 20 years. Cereplast also announced that it has opened a distribution center in the Netherlands.
The company said it is beefing up its European presence in the hope that the decline of the dollar relative to the euro will make the company’s products more competitive in the international marketplace.
Staff reporter Richard Clough can be reached at
[email protected]
or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 251.
