2 County Companies Plan to Merge in Stock Swap

Nor-Gold Inc., a publicly held company in Irvine, said it has reached an agreement to buy GVI Inc., a year-old concern in Los Alamitos with plans to compete in a specialized portion of the semiconductor industry.

The stock swap between GVI and Nor-Gold is expected to be finished later this month, pending approval by GVI shareholders. Once the deal is complete, Nor-Gold plans to change its name to GVI Inc. and move its headquarters to Santa Monica.

GVI boasts a three-pronged plan to make gallium arsenide wafers, which are used in the semiconductor industry, said Herb Segaloff, GVI president.

Under terms of the agreement, Nor-Gold would receive all of GVI’s stock in return for 7.8 million shares of newly created Nor-Gold common stock. Currently, there are just under 2 million shares of Nor-Gold stock.

The planned acquisition in effect would make GVI a publicly held company, a move the company hopes will open another avenue to raise capital, Segaloff said. Segaloff said Nor-Gold originally was formed to invest in mining but never got that business off the ground and has been looking for a new investment ever since.

Nor-Gold’s majority owners could not be reached for comment.