Powertec Agrees to Purchase N.H. Electrical-Converters Manufacturer

Chatsworth-based Powertec agreed to buy Semiconductor Circuits, a Windham, N.H.-based maker of electrical converters used in communications, robot and computer equipment.

Powertec, which makes power-switching equipment used mostly in computers, will buy all assets of the privately held company and assume its liabilities, except for the firm’s bank debt, said Emmett H. Bradley, Powertec’s president. Once the acquisition is completed, Semiconductor Circuits will be a Powertec subsidiary, he said.

Powertec did not disclose the price it will pay. Bradley said that the final price will be determined after an audit of Semiconductor Circuits is completed. The owners of Semiconductor Circuits also may receive a bonus of Powertec stock, depending on how well the subsidiary performs, Bradley said.

Semiconductor Circuits’ major business is in devices that converts DC voltage into the lower voltage required to operate some electronics equipment. Powertec’s main product is equipment that converts AC power to DC power.

Semiconductor Circuits had $10.3 million in sales last year and employs 150 at two plants in New Hampshire. Powertec, which employs 300 in Chatsworth, had sales of $22.7 million and earnings of $2.5 million in the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 1984.