After big losses, Mad Catz sells its Saitek controller biz for $13M

Nine years ago, Mad Catz acquired fellow game hardware maker Saitek for a cool $30 million.

This week Mad Catz sold off Saitek in a $13 million deal with Logitech that will see the latter firm acquiring the Saitek brand, all of its accompanying flight, space and farm sim (pictured) game controller assets, and 8 Saitek employees who have accepted new jobs at Logitech.

This is chiefly notable because the $13 million deal was all cash, and comes months after Mad Catz reported a remarkable $11 million loss during its most recent fiscal year.

That's a significant drop given that it had reported a $5.4 million profit the year prior, and the company laid off over a third of its staff early this year as part of a big cost-cutting program. Now it appears to have sold off a significant chunk of its business to raise funds.

"Our Board and management team are highly focused on enhancing shareholder value and we believe this transaction is consistent with our ongoing efforts, enabling us to improve our financial position and working capital," stated Mad Catz chief Karen McGinnis in a press release confirming the sale. "We are confident that the sale of the Saitek brand and product line, along with the other previously-disclosed Company-wide initiatives, will result in improved financial performance and shareholder value."

The initiatives McGinnis is referring to are the lines of Saitek controller peripherals that aren't game-specific (think: mice and keyboards, rather than flight sticks) that Mad Catz acquired when it originally bought Saitek, and now intends to continue selling under its own branding.

McGinnis, of course, was named the new president and CEO of Mad Catz when some of the company's top brass resigned earlier this year.