INDUSTRY FOCUS TOP NEWS STORIES 2021
are now organised as a U.S. company and we look forward to continuing to drive innovation in semiconductor technology critical to the nation’s data economy.” Financial terms of the stock and cash transaction were not disclosed, but was thought the deal was worth around US$10 billion.
announced it was paying around US$918 million for NeoPhotonics, a leading developer and manufacturer of ultra-pure light lasers and optoelectronic products that transmit, receive and switch digital optical signals for cloud and hyper-scale data centres at high speed over distance. Coherent’s target markets include internet content providers and telecom networks. Given that at the time of writing both boards had unanimously approved the deal, it looks likely it will be signed off on schedule in 2H22. Lumentum reckons the deal will produce significant opportunities in the 400G+ optical network market as internet, cloud, mobile, and broadband access network capacity requirements continue to grow at an unrelenting pace driven by the digital transformation of work and life, high-bandwidth video, gaming, and other applications. It will also be in a better position to serve market leading customers and a solid financial position will allow it to invest in new products, technologies, and manufacturing capabilities, with a broader portfolio of products and technology. The company is also expecting to benefit from R&D and manufacturing capabilities globally across Asia, North America, and Europe as a result of the deal. With a broader global talent pool, Lumentum says it will be well positioned to accelerate innovation and collaborate more closely with market and technology-leading customers worldwide.
construction sector, is now offering fibre optic installation services to customers across the United States. The organisation’s new Fibre Optic division is led by Dan Tibbitts, who brings 27 years of fibre optics expertise to the organisation. The division will continue to serve utilities in the renewable energy market by expanding and maintaining wind and solar energy infrastructure, while working closely with telecommunications companies to fulfil their broadband needs, including fibre to the home (FTTH). “Sentry has the ability to deliver both large and small-scale projects that exceed industry standards – from underground fibre optic cables placement, repair, and maintenance to fibre splicing, blowing, plant testing, and fibre to the home,” said Tibbitts, Sentry’s director of fibre optics. “The advantage of working with us is that we are a trusted contractor that has been working in fibre optics for years. Our technicians bring both old and new learning experiences to our customer projects, enabling us to specialise our services to successfully deliver even the most unique projects.” OPTICAL CONNECTIONS And finally, a look back at 2021 would not be complete without mentioning Optical Connections’ webinar series, launched in the spring. Topics covered during the year included: Close to the Edge: Fibre for any-haul in 5G access networks; Replacing the copper infrastructure and Managing the fibre network. This successful series will be repeated in 2022 with new topics and a line-up of top industry experts and analysts. Previous webinars are available to be watched on demand here, where details of the 2022 series can also be found.
ADTRAN Announced
in August, the other big buyout of 2021 was ADTRAN’s acquisition of German metro and carrier ethernet firm ADVA for US$930 (€789) million. Subject to approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Bundesanstalt fuer Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin), and customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to be completed by the year end. There is little crossover between ADTRAN and ADVA’s portfolios as is the case with their geographical customer bases. The deal combines ADTRAN’s range of broadband access products with ADVA’s metro and carrier ethernet businesses, however, both companies have considerable experience in SDN and disaggregated networking. In addition, the vast majority of ADTRAN’s customers (74%) are in North America, with 21% in Europe, whereas ADVA’s numbers are 29% and 62% respectively. The acquisition has already been approved unanimously by the ADTRAN board of directors and the ADVA management and supervisory boards. It also has the strong support of ADVA’s largest shareholder, Egora, which has entered into an irrevocable commitment to tender into the offer shares representing 13.7% of ADVA’s outstanding shares.
SENTRY Mergers and buy- outs aside,
the demand for FTTH roll-outs, particularly in the North American content prompted has at least one company to expand its portfolio into the fibre construction market. In March, US-based Sentry Group, which has made its name in the renewable energy
LUMENTUM Near the end of the year,
Lumentum resumed its coherent expansion strategy after failing to secure a deal with Coherent, it
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INDUSTRY FOCUS 2021/2022
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