Following several years of negative earnings and a series of aborted merger deals, Voice Powered Technology International Inc, the Tarzana, California based maker of voice activated organizers, phones and remote controllers, has filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. VPTI called off its merger with fellow voice recognition specialist Voice It Worldwide Inc in February this year, at which point Franklin Electronic Publishers stepped in with a $0.25 per share cash offer for the firm. But this faltered in April, and the stock fell to just $0.07 a share following the announcement of financial difficulties in May. The first quarter to March 31 saw losses doubling to $1.4m while revenue fell 40% to just $1.3m. In the second quarter President and chief executive, Mitchell B. Rubin was forced to sell the IQ*VOICE Pocket Organizer product line to former suitor Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc, cutting the company’s revenue stream to just $527,000 in the period, and the slide into bankruptcy proceedings was complete. Rubin is now organizing a last gasp attempt to keep the company afloat by shipping its new PC Link product under the umbrella of Chapter 11 protection. But efforts are being hampered by a $435,000 lawsuit filed by Everen Securities Inc, relating to the sale of VPTI’s Pocket Organizer product line. The associated legal costs are straining the company’s already paper thin resources to the limit.
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