Marlin Equity Partners says it has closed its acquisition of Nokia Siemens Networks’ Optical Networks business. The milestone means that Coriant is now officially “unleashed,” to use the term at the center of its first marketing campaign.
As previously reported, Coriant will now focus on establishing itself as an independent optical transport systems company that, at least initially, will focus on coherent 100G transport and software-defined, optical layer intelligence (see “Ex-NSN optical division anticipates new start as Coriant”). It starts with operations in nearly 50 countries and “the majority” of employees from the former NSN business unit. Those operations include a headquarters in Munich; R&D centers in Asia, Germany, Portugal, and the U.S.; and a production center in Berlin.
Its founding product line includes the hiT 7300 DWDM/OTN transport platform, the hiT 7100 OTN switch, and the hiT 70xx series of multiservice provisioning platforms. The TNMS network management software platform and TransNet and TransConnect network planning tools round out the company’s initial offerings.
“We are very excited to start our journey forward as an independent company,” said Herbert Merz, the new company’s president and CEO. “We enter the market with proven expertise in optical networking solutions that form the foundation for building Tier 1 networks around the world. We will continue to increase value for our customers as an ever-growing demand for mobile, video, and cloud services creates new opportunities for differentiated, end-to-end service offerings.”
Other Coriant officers include:
- Gero Neumeier, CFO
- Uwe Fischer, CTO and senior vice president, product management
- Mikko Lavanti, senior vice president, customer operations
- Robert Richter, senior vice president, R&D and program management
- Rolf Nauerz, vice president, quality
- Michael Kalweit, senior vice president, procurement
- Peter Streit, senior vice president, operations
- Konrad Schütte, senior vice president, strategy
- Olaf Horsthemke, senior vice president, human resources.
Merz and five executives from Marlin Equity Partners -- Robert Leggett, Nick Kaiser, Pat DiPietro, Robb Warwick, and Doug Bayerd – will compose the board.
“We are excited to back the Coriant team and we view the standalone business as an ideal platform for growth in the optical networking sector,” said Kaiser. “We are committed to extending Coriant’s market leadership by actively pursuing both organic growth opportunities and strategic acquisitions.”
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
