Accelink Technologies Co., Ltd. is not letting its impending merger with Wuhan Telecommunication Devices Co., Ltd. (WTD) distract it from other pursuits. The company’s board of directors voted December 3, 2012, to approve the signing of a share purchase agreement with Ignis AS for the acquisition of the latter’s subsidiary, Ignis Photonyx A/S (IPX). Accelink will pay $2.6 million (CNY 16.38 million) for the assets, after which IPX will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Accelink.
Accelink says it plans to invest a further $5.4 million (CNY 34.02 million) in IPX to pay for facility upgrades and replenish its working funds.
Denmark-based IPX develops a variety of products based on of planar optical waveguide components such as planar lightwave circuits and arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology. It has supplied Accelink with such products as AWGs and optical splitters for several years (see “Ignis signs supply agreement letter with Accelink”).
The deal will further Accelink’s strategy to increase its vertical integration in the optoelectronic business, which will increase production scale, market share, and supply chain margins. In particular, the acquisition of IPX and its photonic chip technology should accelerate Accelink’s entry into high-end markets. In particular, Accelink believes IPX’s core technologies will provide a significant boost to Accelink’s effort to develop 100 Gbps and 400 Gbps products.
Ignis ASA itself was sold to Finisar in 2011 (see "Finisar caps Ignis acquisition").
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