Merix Corporation
Company typePublic
Industryelectronics
Founded1994, Oregon
HeadquartersBeaverton, Oregon,
United States
Key people
William C. McCormick, Chairman
Mike Burger, CEO
Productsprinted circuit boards
Revenue$287 million USD (FY 2009)
Decrease $49 million USD (FY 2006)
Decrease $49 million USD (FY 2006)
Number of employees
2,950 (2009)
ParentTTM Technologies
DivisionsMerix San Jose
Merix Asia
Merix Oregon
Footnotes / references
Financial data[1]

Merix Corporation was an American printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer based in Beaverton, Oregon.[2] Prior to a merger in 2010 with Viasystems, the company had been the 31st largest public company in Oregon based on market capitalization as of 2006.[3][4] The company is now part of TTM Technologies.

History

Merix Corporation was started in 1994 as a spin-off from Tektronix, Inc. in Oregon's Silicon Forest, employing 700 people.[5] Tektronix continued to own 27% of the new company.[6] The City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development awarded Merix a BEST Award in 1997 for water conservation.[7] Merix lost $9.6 million on revenues of $87 million in 2002, and followed that with losses of $30 million in 2003 on revenues of $95 million.[8]

In December 2004, the company bought Data Circuit Systems and named the unit Merix San Jose.[8] That fiscal year, Merix returned to profitability with a $20,000 in earnings from $156 million in revenues.[8] On September 29, 2005, Merix purchased the operations of Eastern Pacific Circuits Holding Limited. Merix renamed these operations as Merix Asia.[9] In February 2007, the company was warned by NASDAQ for failing to have a full three member independent audit committee as required by NASDAQ listing rules.[10]

For the 2006 fiscal year they had revenues of $309 million and a profit of $1.4 million.[8] In January 2008, Merix announced the closing of their Wood Village, Oregon, factory they opened in 2004.[11] The company laid off 180 people company-wide as part of a restructuring plan at that time.[11] Another 230 people were laid off in early 2009,[12] and the company then lost $8.4 million on nearly $60 million in revenues in the quarter that ended in May 2009.[13]

Also in 2009, the company expanded its military and aerospace customer base, adding contracts to companies such as Rockwell Collins.[14] In October 2009, Merix announced they would merge with Viasystems with the combined entity headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.[15] Merix reported a quarterly profit for the second quarter of their 2010 fiscal year, the first such profit since 2007.[16] The merger with Viasystems was completed in February 2010.[17] Viasystems was acquired by California-based TTM Technologies in May 2015 for $368 million.[18][19]

Operations

The company's main domestic production facility was located in Forest Grove, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area.[20] The 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m2) facility employed about 800 people and was the city's largest employer.[20] Merix's other U.S. plant is located in San Jose, California.[20] Company headquarters were in Beaverton, Oregon, also in the Portland area,[20] with Mike Burger serving as the chief executive officer since 2007.[14]

Merix produced printed circuit boards used in various electronic equipment worldwide. This was primarily multi-layered rigid PCBs used in the automotive industry, communications equipment, testing equipment, and the computer industry. The manufacturing facilities were located primarily in China.[21]

References

  1. ^ "2009 Annual Report" (PDF). Merix. July 30, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  2. ^ Merix Corporation (MERX). Portland Business Journal. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
  3. ^ "The Oregonian Top 50". OregonLive.com. July 2, 2006.
  4. ^ Merix North America. Merix. Retrieved on May 14, 2008.
  5. ^ "Tektronix In a Spinoff", The New York Times, April 4, 1994.
  6. ^ Company News; Tektronix, posting a loss, plans 10% cut in work force. The New York Times, September 17, 1998.
  7. ^ 1997 BEST Winners. City of Portland, Oregon. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c d Merix Corporation 2006 Annual Report. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
  9. ^ Merix Corporation - Company Profile Snapshot. Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine Wright Reports. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.
  10. ^ NASDAQ warns Merix. Portland Business Journal, February 19, 2007.
  11. ^ a b Trevison, Catherine. Merix to lay off 180, close plant. The Oregonian, January 10, 2008.
  12. ^ "Merix lays off 230". Portland Business Journal. February 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  13. ^ "Merix reports $8.4 million loss". Portland Business Journal. July 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  14. ^ a b Siemers, Erik (June 26, 2009). "Merix gains a foothold in aerospace market". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  15. ^ Hunsberger, Brent (October 6, 2009). "Oregon's Merix merging with circuit-board maker Viasystems". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  16. ^ Rogoway, Mike (January 4, 2009). "Merix posts first profit in nearly three years". The Oregonian. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  17. ^ Rogoway, Mike (February 16, 2010). "Viasystems completes Merix purchase". The Oregonian. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  18. ^ Mueller, Angela (2014-09-22). "TTM Technologies acquiring Viasystems Group". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  19. ^ "Form 10-K". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  20. ^ a b c d Christensen, Nick (October 9, 2009). "Merix to merge". The Hillsboro Argus. p. A1. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  21. ^ Company profile for MERX. Reuters. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.

External links

Large companies formerly based in Oregon
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