Powerwave Plans Secondary Offering to Cash In on Rise

Powerwave Technologies Inc. said Wednesday it plans a secondary stock offering of 3 million shares that will give some of its key executives, employees and financial backers an opportunity to cash in on the firm’s growth since its Dec. 6 initial offering.

The company’s registration statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, does not give a date for the sale and a spokesman said none has been set.

Key shareholders including Chairman Alfonso Cordero and venture capital investor Summit Partners will be selling 2.25 million shares--expected to be priced at about $18 each--while the company will issue 750,000 new shares.

The stock went public at $12 a share and closed Wednesday in light Nasdaq trading at $18.125, down 37.5 cents. It has traded as high as $22.75 on the strength of Powerwave’s steadily increasing sales and profits that rose from $2.9 million in 1994 to $7.6 million last year.

Powerwave designs, makes and markets power amplifiers used in wireless communications networks, including cellular telephone systems.

The Irvine-based company said it intends to use proceeds from the new offering--an estimated $13.5 million--for general corporate uses including new product development. There will be about 17 million shares outstanding after the sale.

The company said its proposed secondary offering will be managed by Alex Brown & Sons Inc., UBS Securities and Wessels LLC, and Arnold & Henderson LLC.

Separately, Powerwave this week said it had received $14 million in new orders from Hyundai Electronics Industry Co., LG Information & Communications Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., for installation in South Korea’s digital cellular network. Shipments are expected to begin in June and to end by the fourth quarter, the company said.