Slightly off topic but rather interesting. The following article says a lot about the nature and history of COHU's conservative management. The "management culture" at COHU is conservative thus making COHU a less volatile but just as attractive holding. I for one like the current conservative management. It is a refreshing change.
uniontrib.com
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William S. Ivans was an ideal corporate chief
By Donald C. Bauder
SENIOR COLUMNIST
July 15, 1999
William S. "Bill" Ivans, killed in a glider accident Tuesday, was a
man of consummate refinement and civility -- but also a shrewd
executive and tough infighter when his company's future was
threatened.
Indeed, Ivans' history with Cohu, and his community activism, paint
a picture of the ideal corporate executive.
He was chief executive officer of San Diego-based Cohu from 1965 to 1983.
During that period, the company made its very successful move into
semiconductor test equipment, which is now the dominant part of the
business.
The Cohu story could have turned out much differently. In 1972 and 1973,
Richard T. Silberman and the late Robert O. Peterson launched a proxy fight
to take over the company.
"Bill told me he had guys on the board who were not friendly," recalls Charles
Schwan, Cohu's current chief executive, who was chief financial officer of the
company when Ivans led the fight against the dissidents.
After selling their shares in Jack In The Box, Silberman and Peterson in 1967
had led a syndicate that had taken control of Southern California First
National Bank.
"You could see what happened at the bank," Schwan says. The bank's stock
and book value dropped sharply, and the pair got out barely even when they
sold to Japanese interests in 1975.
Under Silberman and Peterson, the bank loaned $2 million to John King, a
Colorado financier whose notorious King Resources collapsed. In early
1970, the bank tried to buy 40 percent of a bank in secrecy-shrouded Basel,
Switzerland, but the Federal Reserve nixed that deal. Peterson and Silberman
then individually bought shares in the Swiss bank.
Silberman had actually been involved in offshore operations before, having
gone public in 1960 with a Bermuda-based company, Electronics
International Capital, that told investors it was not subject to income or capital
gains tax in Bermuda or the United States.
The stock zoomed and plummeted, and Silberman was ousted in a 1965
proxy fight.
Then he turned to being the aggressor, in both the bank and Cohu battles. In
the long-running Cohu struggle, the Silberman-Peterson group would make
charges. Ivans's ripostes were understated but cutting.
For example, the dissident group charged that Cohu stock was receding.
Replied Ivans:
"If they (the Silberman-Peterson group) have any expertise available to them,
they should apply it forthwith to restore the shares of Southern California First
National. It has fallen to around $11 a share since they bought control of the
bank at (a split-adjusted) $22 a share."
As the battle wore on, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Thompson was
highly critical of the dissident group, charging it with making misleading
statements.
Eventually, management won the battle, and before long, Ivans was steering
Cohu into the profitable semiconductor test equipment business. The
successful proxy fight was pivotal to the company's success, Schwan says.
Ivans stayed on as chairman of Cohu until his untimely death Tuesday.
In 1990, Silberman, former state finance director, was convicted of helping
launder $300,000 from an FBI agent posing as a front for Colombian drug
traffickers and went to prison.
"I got companies in Panama, I got companies in Hong Kong, I got companies
in Switzerland and I've used them for years," Silberman had boasted to an
FBI informant during the operation.
Ivans was also a lover and supporter of the arts, serving as a board member
and officer of the San Diego Opera and supporting the La Jolla Chamber
Music Society, San Diego Symphony, Master Chorale and other groups.
"I am shocked at the loss of Bill Ivans," says Ian D. Campbell, general
director of San Diego Opera. "Men of his stamp are unfortunately rare, and
he will be sadly missed."
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Mani |
