Semiconductor company Sequans Communications said it has secured and closed about $9 million in its Series B financing round from major venture capital firms. Add Partners and Vision Capital co-led the round, according to Sequans. The company makes platforms and software for WiMAX.
Public-safety technology company Padcom Inc. secured $10 million in equity financing, which the company said it will use to expand its product portfolio and market development efforts. The company also said it will use the funds to develop and protect its intellectual property in the area of wireless connectivity for continuous remote access.
Venture-capital company BA Venture Partners said it closed BAVP Fund VII, a $400 million fund it will invest during the next four years. “We’re planning to invest close to $150 million of the new fund in the digital consumer space, which for us includes every kind of media at the device and content level,” said Kate Mitchell, managing director of BAVP. The group will target early- and development-stage opportunities in semiconductors, networking and consumer electronics, Internet and wireless services.
Lucent Technologies Inc. said its shareholders have given the vendor the go-ahead to adopt a reverse stock split with a view to boosting its share price. Since the telecom bubble shook the market about four years ago, Lucent has been weighing the reverse stock split option to keep its share price from falling below the $1 mark, which might invite delisting by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lucent’s share price has hovered around $3, a far cry form its sturdy $85 in the prosperous days of 1999.
Motorola Inc. lowered its fourth-quarter earnings by 1 percent, the company revealed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company said the changes were “part of its normal closing process conducted to complete its year-end financial statements.” Motorola lowered its fourth-quarter net earnings from $654 million to $647 million. The company also lowered its full-year 2004 net earnings from $1.539 billion to $1.532 billion.
