Syntax-Brillian Files Chapter 11, Shares Worthless

The television maker Syntax-Brillian (BRLC) Tuesday morning announced that the company has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, and that its stock “will have no value” under a proposed reorganization plan.

The company has signed a deal to to sell certain assets to Olevia International Group, a new company owned by TCV Group, which provides the plastic injection molded parts for BRLC’s Olevia-branded LCD televisions. In exchange for the assets purchased, Olevia will assume $60 million of the BRLC’s secured debt. The company said its business will continue to operate as usual.

Not included in the Chapter 11 filing is the company’s Vivitar camera business, which has been put up for sale.

BRLC shares, which are being delisted, are down 41 cents, or 90.2%, to 5 cents…or about 5 more cents than they are actually worth.

Comments

[dsrtwriter]

This result was not surprising.It was clear to me from the outset that Syntax bought Brillian for the sole purpose of getting its listing on the stock exchange, so that the private owners of Syntax could work on cashing out their investment by selling shares.

At the time Syntax bought Brillian, Syntax was known for making LCD televisions. Brillian was the orphan spin off of the now nonexistent Three Five Systems, and the principal intellectual asset of Brillian was not LCD, but LCOS technology, the so-called high definition screen on a chip.

Syntax obviously did not buy Brillian for the LCOS technology, since it never developed LCOS to any degree, but stayed with LCD televisions.It only wanted the stock listing.

Frankly, when you deal with Asian private investors who buy your publicly traded company, you cannot believe anything they say.
If that is politically incorrect, too bad, it is reality.

As far as the former Three Five Systems, at one time it was a go-go company with innovative LCD technology, plants in several world locations. Then they "partnered" with the communist Chinese and built a plant in Beijing, which actually finished ahead of schedule.

This was supposed to build the new LCD screens for cell phones, etc., but a funny thing happened.

After sharing the proprietary technology with the Chinese ( a usual precondition of coming into China), soon a parallel, Chinese owned plant developed down the road, and started selling to the cell phone manufacturers.

Almost as fast as you could say "chop suey", Three Five lost its contracts, closed the Beijing plant, and went bankrupt.

This is similar to the fate of so many naive American companies who thought "the world's biggest consumer market" would make them rich, and stupidly opened their intellectual property to share with their Chinese "partners".

Look at Motorola as an example.

As the Neil Diamond song "I am..I said" goes "except for the names and a few other changes, the story's the same one"