Canada deal earns cash for StockerYale

Salem-based StockerYale has sold a property in Canada and refinanced a bond issue, giving it a quick infusion of much-needed cash.

On Dec. 20 the fiberoptics firm sold its Montreal facility to Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada for $4.15 million (Canadian), agreeing to a 10-year lease-back at more than $400,000 (Canadian) dollars a year.

StockerYale said it plans to use the proceeds to pay off some of its debts as well as for working capital. In addition, the company extended the redemption of a $1.5 million (U.S.) note issued to The Eureka Interactive Fund Limited until Jan. 15, 2007.

While this won’t turn around the struggling company, “it does free up a bit of cash and will be an incremental improvement in our balance sheet,” spokesman Fred Pilon told NHBR Daily.

StockerYale had less than $1.9 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30, less than half of what it had the previous year. The company lost $1.1 million during the last quarter, though that’s a smaller loss than it suffered in the previous year.

In addition, the company faces a class action lawsuit over alleged insider trading and possible delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange because it has been unable to keep its stock price over $1 since September. — BOB SANDERS