STR giving execs $1M golden parachute

PHOTOS/PABLO ROBLES Robert Yorgensen stands to receive a $330,000 bonus if STR Holdings is sold.

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Troubled solar firm STR Holdings of Enfield has ensured its top executives will receive nearly $1 million in bonuses this fiscal year even if the company is sold.

STR has inked agreements for retention bonuses with its leadership in the event the company control changes by June 30 or the firm meets certain financial targets, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bonuses are:

$330,000 for Robert Yorgensen, president and chief executive officer,

$238,000 for Barry Morris, executive vice president and chief operating officer,

$229,000 for Alan Forman, senior vice president and general counsel, and

$180,000 for Joseph Radziewicz, vice president, chief financial officer, and chief accounting officer.

The bonuses come after all four executives lost out on incentive payments because of STR’s poor financial performance in 2012. Yorgensen missed out on a $356,250 bonus, Morris missed $158,362, Forman missed $111,467, and Radziewicz missed $83,029.

STR officials did not respond to the Hartford Business Journal on Wednesday afternoon.

The agreements do not necessarily mean the company is being sold, just that STR wants to keep its top people around, said Robert Stone, analyst with New York City market research firm Cowen and Co.

"It could be that something is in the works, and that is a time when you want to keep your key people around," Stone said. "It could also be the company is going through a challenging time, and that is also a time when you don't want to lose your key executives."

The new bonus agreements come as the company struggles to find revenue in the changing solar market. STR has had net quarterly financial losses for the past two years, as the worldwide solar supply market is soften by oversupply, reducing volumes and prices for the Enfield company. STR makes encapsulants that protect photovoltaic cells.

In January, STR lost its top customer, Arizona-based First Solar, forcing the Enfield firm to close its East Windsor manufacturing facility and lay off nearly 200 people.

Because of its struggles with its financial and its low levels of revenue for the foreseeable future, STR isn't a strong candidate for a takeover, Stone said. However, the company has a large amount of cash on hand compared to its market cap, which is soft because of the problems in the global solar market.

If the company is not sold by June 30, then the four executives would receive their new retention bonuses on a quarterly basis, provided the firm meets predetermined financial targets.