Mission Cyrus Inc, the Burnaby, British Columbia-based personal computer company, in which the UK’s Mission Electronics has an investment, is currently going through the process of re-structuring, following a delay in its expected second round of financing. The company is now trading under the Canadian equivalent of Chapter 11 – it is not bankrupt or insolvent, but strapped for cash, and so can’t buy the parts it needs to fulfil the orders on its books. The problem has been that Mission’s main investor, a small British bank, pulled out of a planned $3.7m investment, and the gap needs to be filled before other investors – including the British Columbian Government – will pay up. Mission says that one of two huge conglomerates with electronics subsidiaries may buy the whole company for between $5m and $10m. Meanwhile, research and development has moved back to Mission Electronics in Huntingdon, here, but the financial problems have seriously delayed some of its innovative plans, such as a Sparc workstation and 80486 colour laptop.
