Plasmon, the storage solutions specialist, has appointed administrators on Monday “to engage with interested strategic and financial sponsors to acquire the business.” The company says it is currently reviewing a new offer from a US-based private equity firm for the possible refinancing and/or takeover of its US and European operations.

Operations of UK-based Plasmon Ltd, include UDO (Ultra Densiy Opttical) media research in Cambridge and CD and DVD mastering in France. It has a US subsidiary, Plasmon Inc.

An insider quoted by The Register reports that a third of Plasmon Ltd's staff were made redundant. The software and UDO media teams have been hardest hit. They were judged unimportant compared to the core archive business, and are being closed down during ongoing negotiations. The Register reckons that Plasmon's own UDO optical media format's generational roadmap may now be limited in scope if research is disbanded.

In a statement today, joint administrator Kroll RNS says: “As this process runs its course, Plasmon will continue normal operations selling and supporting customers and partners in all territories. In the meantime and over a very short period, Management intends to work with the UK administrator to continue our restructuring plans and successfully complete a buy-out transaction. Plasmon Inc. expects to be positioned to continue aggressively pursuing its strategic vision as a leader in the enterprise data archiving market.”

In a confidence-boosting take on the unfolding events, Steven Murphy, Plasmon President and CEO adds: “With increased IT operational and compliance demand for long term data storage solutions, Plasmon Inc. continues to be poised to address the growing enterprise archiving market opportunity. Our newly-announced “3-2-1 Archive Architecture” for accessible and secure long-term data storage provides exactly what the enterprise market is looking for.” The company “expects […] to return to growth and positive cash flow this fiscal year.

As The Register puts it: “Watching a viable business trying to emerge from amidst the ravaged remains of an old one under the pressure of dramatic financial events is not a pretty sight. It is amazing, reassuring even, that rescue and refinancing talks are ongoing.”

Story filed 08.10.08