Note 4 - Investments in Privately-held Companies

3 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2016

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):

I nvestments	April 30 , 201 6		January 30 , 201 6
Issuer A	$	2,000	$	2,000
Issuer B		450		750
Issuer C		136		134
Total investments	$	2,586	$	2,884

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 remaining balance of 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 2016 and the first quarter of fiscal 2017, we recorded impairment charges each of $0.3 million on this investment as we concluded the impairment to be other-than-temporary.

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

We made the above-described 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.