International Rectifier Corp. (IR) announced that Dr. Alex Lidow, CEO and Director, has gone on a paid leave of absence pending the resolution of the previously announced investigation conducted by the Audit Committee of the Board of the company. The Board has determined that this action was in the best interests of the company and no conclusion has been reached by the Audit Committee that Lidow has engaged in any wrongful conduct. Lidow, who is the son of IR’s founder Eric Lidow, remains a member of the Board of Directors of the company.
Donald R. Dancer, the company’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, has been designated by the Board as acting Chief Executive Officer during this period. The Board has formed a special committee comprised of the independent directors to advise and support Dancer in his new responsibilities.
IR reported in April that it had discovered accounting irregularities, which included unsubstantiated orders being entered in sales figures, related to an unnamed foreign subsidiary. Soon afterward, the company’s CFO, Michael McGee, was terminated, and the company’s Executive VP of Global Sales and Marketing, Robert Grant, resigned.
The company intends to file on August 31, 2007 a Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25 with respect to the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended June 30, 2007. The probe has so far determined that the financial statements for the company’s past six quarters are not reliable.
