New Cash Investment Will Help Cerplex Pay Off Debt

In an effort to help it repay debt and return to profitability, computer service firm Cerplex Group Inc. said Thursday that its majority shareholder will invest another $50 million and convert $32.1 million of its existing debt into equity.

The New York-based investment firm, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe VII L.P., already owns about 85% of Cerplex’s common stock. Irvine’s Cerplex is a provider of assembly, parts, repair and other services to the high-tech industry.

As part of the deal, which is set to close in four weeks, Cerplex will issue to the investment firm $58.2 million of a new class of nonparticipating, preferred stock, as well a senior note--a form of interest-bearing corporate IOU--worth $25 million. The note is to be repaid in 2001.

The $50-million cash investment will enable Cerplex to repay $45.4 million in bank debts. The rest of the money will go to cover operational expenses, company officials said.

Cerplex consolidated its headquarters and two regional facilities into a new office complex in the Irvine Spectrum this year and shifted its crew of 120 employees to its 22,000-square-foot site on Pacifica Drive.

Cerplex’s stock, which trades in the over-the-counter market, rose 30 cents Monday to close at 41 cents a share.