Optical receiver company couldn't resist Michigan tax break.

Advanced Photonies Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer of optical receivers, is moving its corporate headquarters from Camarillo to Ann Arbor, Mich., citing a $1.1 million tax credit being offered by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., plus additional property tax abatements.

A company subsidiary, Picometrix, is located in Ann Arbor, and API plans to consolidate its manufacturing operations from Wisconsin and Camarillo to the Ann Arbor location, the company said in an announcement.

Packaging and assembly will still be performed in Camarillo, but the fate of its 70 or so employees in that office is uncertain. The company has 156 employees total.

Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Kurtz lives in Michigan, but had been commuting to the Camarillo headquarters since 2003. He began working in the Michigan office fulltime last summer. Company executives did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The move, to be completed over the next 12 to 14 months, comes just a few months after API completed the acquisition of Picometrix for almost $6.5 million. Announced last March, the merger closed in May, though company filings at the time did not indicate the pending headquarters move.

For the past few years, API has been quietly consolidating its small corner of the optical semiconductor industry, acquiring Texas Optoelectronics Inc. in 2003 for about $2.5 million in stock and debt, and Sinai Valley-based Photonics Detectors Inc. for about $1.3 million the following year. API makes customized silicon-based chips and light-emitting diodes used in aerospace, medical and automotive products. Its customer base is in the U.S. and Canada.

The company's stock has been hovering in the $2 to $3 range for most of last year, giving it a market capitalization of $50 million. Company insiders hold about 30 percent of the shares.