XML 30 R16.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.3.1.900

Other Investments | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2015
Text Block [Abstract] |
Other Investments | 8. OTHER INVESTMENTS In September 2015, Intersil Corporation (“Intersil”) acquired, through a statutory merger, Great Wall Semiconductor Corporation (“GWS”), in which the Company held non-voting convertible preferred stock. GWS and its subsidiary designed and sold semiconductors, conducted research and development activities, and developed and licensed patents. A director of the Company was the founder, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), as well as the majority voting shareholder, of GWS. The Company accounted for its investment in GWS under the equity method. The Company determined, while GWS was a variable interest entity, the Company was not the primary beneficiary. The key factors in the Company’s assessment were that the CEO of GWS had: (i) the power to direct the activities of GWS that most significantly impact its economic performance, and (ii) an obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from GWS, respectively, that could potentially be significant to GWS. At the time of the merger transaction, the Company’s gross investment totaled $4,999,719. However, during the fourth quarter of 2008, the Company determined a decline in value judged to be other-than-temporary had occurred and, as such, the investment’s recorded value on the Consolidated Balance Sheet, as of December 31, 2008, was reduced to zero. Management’s decision to reduce the remaining investment balance to zero at that time was based on GWS’ continued operating losses, the impact of the global economic crisis on the current and short-term outlook for its operations, a negative working capital position as of December 31, 2008, and a valuation based on discounted cash flows. Under the terms of the merger agreement between GWS and Intersil, and in accordance with the terms of the shareholder agreement under which the Company made its investments, all preferred stock was redeemed at full preference value (i.e., purchased for cash equal to the original investment amount). This redemption was effected through the exchange of a share of preferred stock for (a) the right to receive the preference value in cash upon surrender of the preferred shares and (b) the non-transferable right to receive certain cash payments as additional consideration, after a period of 16 months, associated with (i) the release by Intersil of some or all of the $2,625,000 portion of total consideration held in escrow by Intersil for potential funding of indemnification and related obligations made by GWS and its selling shareholders and (ii) additional consideration of up to $4,000,000, payable in the event Intersil achieved certain revenue goals related to GWS products. Immediately after the closing of the merger transaction, the Company received the full preference value, equal to its gross investment in GWS. Because the net investment on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet had a value of zero, the full preference value was recorded as a gain from sale of equity method investment in the third quarter of 2015. Just prior to the merger, the Company also received, as a dividend from GWS, shares of an entity in which GWS held an investment. Such shares were deemed by the Company to have a value of zero on the date of receipt. While the Company’s shares of preferred stock were never converted into shares of non-voting common stock, as provided for in the terms of the shareholder agreement under which the Company made its investment, the proportionate share of the contingent amounts described above was calculated assuming such a conversion, resulting in a pro forma proportionate share for the Company of any amounts paid of 27.0%. The Company will record its proportionate share of any additional consideration when it is determined to be realizable. As a former stockholder of GWS, the Company is subject to the indemnification provisions in the merger agreement, as noted above. In certain cases, the Company’s indemnification obligation can extend to the full amount of the merger consideration received by the Company, however, the Company believes the likelihood of any such indemnification obligation occurring is remote. The Company and GWS were parties to an intellectual property cross-licensing agreement, a license agreement (see below), and two supply agreements, under which the Company purchased certain components from GWS. Intersil, through the merger transaction, has assumed all of GWS’ rights and obligations under these agreements. Company purchases from GWS totaled approximately $1,662,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the approximate date of the sale, and $2,146,000 and $1,959,000 in 2014 and 2013, respectively. The Company owed GWS zero and approximately $170,000 as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. During the second quarter of 2009, the Company entered into a license agreement with GWS in which the Company paid $500,000 to obtain certain rights to several GWS semiconductor devices. This amount was fully amortized, on a straight-line basis, over four years.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_TextBlockAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Other investments. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | vicr_OtherInvestmentsTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | vicr_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration