Ross Technology Inc, the struggling Sparc chipmaker, has won $50m funding from its 60% majority shareholder, Fujitsu Ltd. The company was forced to go cap in hand to Fujitsu after Nasdaq threatened to de-list the company’s shares because it does not reach the net asset requirement of the market. The $50m funding will come in the form of the purchase of a new series B of convertible preferred stock which will enable Ross to retire the same amount of bank debt previously guaranteed by Fujitsu. Ross president and chief executive Jack Simpson said they were now hopeful of a positive outcome of their meeting with Nasdaq officials. We will then intensify our focus on the other activities that have previously been identified for a successful turnaround of Ross. The loss-making company still faces a difficult time as it does not yet have a 64-bit chip out and its customers have been deserting it for 64-bit competitors after Ross made the massive misjudgement of saying that what the market wanted was reliable 32-bit technology.
