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Metalink survives with one employee [Globes, Tel Aviv, Israel](Globes (Tel Aviv) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 17--Metalink Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTLK) has had just one employee since June 2010 -- apparently founder and CEO Zvi Shukhman -- according to the filing of Form 20-F (audited full-year financial report) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. Financially troubled Metalink sold its core business, the development of WAN processors, 18 months ago, keeping its legacy DSL processor business. The sale of the WAN processor business to Germany's Lantiq Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG and Lantiq Israel Ltd. was made in stages, and should have totaled $16.9 million in cash. In practice, according to the SEC filing, Metalink failed to meet the milestones in the agreement, and did not receive the final $7.7 million. Metalink's revenue totaled $813,000 in 2010, 75 percent from $3.3 million in 2009, although it posted its first profit in years ($6.8 million, compared with a net loss of $13.4 million in 2009), thanks to the gains from the sale of its business. The company predicts $2.1 million in DSL processor sales in the short term, but says that sales will wane over time. Metalink says it is seeking strategic alternatives and new investment, including via a merger or becoming a private company. Shukhman owns 21.9 percent of Metalink and chairman Uzi Rosenberg owns 17.8 percent. Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd. (TASE: HARL) owns 9.7 percent. The company has no ongoing development operations and just one employee. Metalink had 70 employees in 2009, and it paid $360,000 to eight executives, seven of whom are currently working at the company. The directors receive no salary, except for the external directors. Metalink delisted from the TASE in March 2010, and was delisted from Nasdaq in April 2011, because it failed to meet the threshold conditions, and was relegated to the Pink Sheets. Metalink's share price fell 1.2 percent on Friday to $0.66, giving a market cap of $1.2 million -- 99.8 percent less than its peak value in 2000. ___ To see more of the Globes or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/nodeview.asp?fid=942. Copyright (c) 2011, Globes, Tel Aviv, Israel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |