Laird to close antennae business after rebuffing takeover bid
Electronics group Laird, which has rejected a takeover offer from larger US rival Cooper Industries, said it would close down one of its businesses after a series of poor results.
Laird, which makes parts for mobile phones and laptops, said it would exit its handset antennae business, after the division had suffered a fall in revenue.
Despite restructuring, Laird said the business ran only at breakeven during the first quarter and sales continued to fall, as demand fell from its major customer.
In 2010, this customer accounted for 70 per cent of the business’ revenues, Laird said.
Laird has been undergoing a revamp of its operations since last year. It exited from its mechanism business in July and cut jobs as part of the restructuring.
On Thursday, Laird rejected a $800m cash offer from Cooper Industries, calling it too low and “opportunistic.
Laird sharesjumped nearly 40 per cent after the offer from Cooper.