Note 4 - Investments in Privately Held Companies

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2015

4. Investments in privately held companies

The following table sets forth the value of investments in and notes receivable from privately-held companies (in thousands):

Equity investments:	October 31 , 201 5		January 31 , 201 5
Issuer A	$	2,000	$	2,000
Issuer B		1,000		1,000
Issuer C		-		129
Issuer D		132		138
Total equity investments	$	3,132	$	3,267

During fiscal 2009, we purchased shares of preferred stock in a privately-held venture capital funded technology company (“Issuer A”) at a total investment cost of $1.0 million. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, we purchased additional shares of preferred stock in Issuer A at a cost of $1.0 million. In November 2010, we loaned $1.0 million to Issuer A and received a secured promissory note. During the second quarter of fiscal 2015, the note receivable from Issuer A was fully repaid.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2011, we purchased shares of preferred stock in another privately-held technology company (“Issuer B”) at a total investment cost of $1.0 million.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, we purchased shares of preferred stock in another privately-held technology company (“Issuer C”) at a total investment cost of $1.0 million. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, the second quarter of fiscal 2015 and the second quarter of fiscal 2016, we recorded impairment charges of $0.3 million, $0.6 million and $0.1 million, respectively, on this investment as we concluded the impairment to be other-than-temporary, effectively nullifying any value from this investment as of October 31, 2015.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2012, we made an equity investment of $0.1 million in a privately-held joint venture (“Issuer D”).

We made the aforementioned investments because we viewed the issuer as either having strategic technology or a business that would complement our technological capabilities or help create an opportunity for us to sell our chipset solutions. We analyze each investment quarterly for evidence of impairment.

Our President and Chief Executive Officer is a member of the Board of Directors of both Issuer A and Issuer B. In the case of Issuer B, the investment transaction was negotiated without the personal involvement of the executive officer who had a personal interest in the transaction.