Late on Monday, Spire Corporation put out a brief notice stating that it has engaged Mirus Capital Advisors to assess strategic alternatives for the company, which could include a sale of the company and/or its assets.
It is difficult to determine the exact circumstances at Spire, and calls by pv magazine staff were not returned by press time. The company has not filed quarterly financial results since the third quarter of 2014, however at that time losses had mounted to USD$4.7 million over nine months, nearly half the company's revenues of $11.7 million.
In January Spire's chief financial officer resigned, and several SEC filings explaining the delay in financial results for the interim quarters cite limited cash resources and liquidity, and the need to explore alternatives to fund working capital.
The PV equipment industry has suffered from a prolonged downturn which began in 2011. During that time revenues collapsed and a number of companies either went out of business, left the solar sector or dramatically scaled back their activities.
However, financial results from PV equipment makers show a modest rebound in 2015 bookings, and companies have been eager to report new orders. This includes Spire, who described an aggressive supply of solar simulators to Chinese companies in May. This may have come too late for Spire, which has been struggling with profitability for years.
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