Mountain View, Calif.’s OpenTV Monday announced a sweeping plan to pare its work force
by some 47 percent, eliminating 315 staffers and restructuring its global
operations.
With the intention of reducing expenses and making efficiency adjustments
associated with its recent
purchase of Wink Communications, the interactive television software
maker hopes the play will help weather the tough economic climate in the
cable and satellite industries. Wink will continue to operate as a separate
subsidiary of OpenTV.
OpenTV, whose software and other products may be found in some 35 million
homes worldwide, will also close eight regional offices. OpenTV believes
its restructuring will be finished by the end of the first quarter of 2003,
resulting in cost savings and a cash burn reduction of approximately $60
million and $48.0 million, respectively.
OpenTV estimates that this restructuring initiative will result in a pre-tax
restructuring charge of approximately $29 million, $20 million of which will
represent cash obligations. This charge is in addition to an estimated
pre-tax restructuring charge of $4.1 million associated with the previously
announced closure of the company’s Naperville, Illinois office, and an
estimated restructuring cost of approximately $4 million associated with
Wink.
“We believe these cost-cutting measures will result in a more efficient and
focused company that will be well positioned to serve our customers and our
goal of achieving long-term growth and profitability,” OpenTV Chief
Executive Officer James Ackerman said in a public statement.
OpenTV, who competes with the likes of Liberate Technologies and Microsoft
in the iTV software sector, was snapped up in
May by Liberty Media for $185 million in cash and stock.
OpenTV Restructures, Nearly Halves Staff
