STORRS, CONNECTICUT and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 10, 2013) -OPEL Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE:OPL)(OTCQX:OPELF) ("OPEL" or "the Company") - the developer of the proprietary planar-optoelectronic technology (POET) platform for monolithic fabrication of integrated electronic and optical devices on a single semiconductor wafer - announced today the establishment of a special committee of the Board of Directors.
This special committee, known as the Special Strategic Committee (SSC) has been given the mandate to evaluate strategic alternatives in relation to the sale or licensing of the Company's proprietary POET platform, to deliver recommendations to the Board, and to carry out any selected transactions to completion as confirmed by the Board. OPEL has not established a definitive timeline for SSC review process but will be assessing all available alternatives over the next few months. It is OPEL's current intension not to disclose developments with respect to the process, unless and until the Board has approved a specific transaction or otherwise determines that disclosure is necessary or appropriate. The company cautions that there are no assurances or guarantees that the process will result in a transaction.
On recommendation of its Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, the Board named Executive Director Peter Copetti to be the Chair of the SSC. Mr. Copetti was also given the authority to assemble his own team of industry experts, to be used in concert with the OPEL personnel he deems beneficial to achieve the end goal of delivering on the mandate of the SSC.
"Peter has been an invaluable asset to the Company since he joined OPEL," said Mr. Mark Benadiba, Executive Chairman of the Board. "His tenacity of purpose and vision has been the driving force behind the commercial focus of our POET platform, the key to unlocking shareholder value. The Board supported the appointment unanimously and without hesitation."
"I am pleased to be taking on this critical assignment at this crucial juncture of the Company's evolution," said Mr. Copetti. "It is exciting to be able to drive the commercialization of the POET Technology Platform with its clear potential to impact the semiconductor industry, positively affecting the way things will work on so many different levels for many years to come. My team and I will consider all possible end solutions in order to unlock shareholder value.
The Company's proprietary POET platform enables monolithic fabrication of integrated circuit gallium arsenide (GaAs) devices containing both electronic and optical elements on a single wafer.
By offering components with increased speed, density, reliability, and lower costs, POET offers the semiconductor industry the ability to push Moore's Law to the next cadence level, overcoming current silicon-based bottlenecks, and potentially changing the roadmap for a broad range of applications, such as smartphones, tablet and wearable computers.
The POET platform is currently the basis for a number of key commercial and military projects now in the delivery pipeline - including optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) devices for avionics systems, combined RF/optical phased arrays, optoelectronic directional couplers, and ultra-low-power random access memory (RAM).
