APRIL 23, 2007 -- Oplink Communications Inc. (search for Oplink) today announced that is has signed a definitive agreement with The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. to acquire a majority interest in Optical Communication Products Inc. (search for OCP).
OCP designs and manufactures fiber-optic communication components and subsystems, including transceivers, transponders, transmitters, receivers, DWDM and CWDM devices that address the metro, local, PON, and storage area networking markets.
Per the agreement, Oplink will acquire all 66,000,000 shares of OCP common stock held by Furukawa, constituting approximately 58% of OCP's outstanding shares, in exchange for $84,150,000 in cash and 857,258 shares of Oplink common stock. The purchase price values the OCP shares being purchased at $1.50 per share, with 85% of the purchase payable in cash and 15% payable in Oplink common stock (valued at Oplink's 30-day average closing price). The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust review. Oplink has delivered to OCP's board of directors an offer to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of OCP at a price of $1.50 per share in cash, subject to certain conditions.
Oplink expects the acquisition of OCP is expected to broaden its portfolio of offerings and significantly expand its addressable market. The combination of OCP's expertise in active optical components and subsystems and Oplink's expertise in passive components and subsystems will create the industry's leading product set for metro and access applications, say Oplink representatives.
"We are excited about the strong strategic fit of our companies and believe this acquisition will substantially benefit our combined customers, including Nortel, Cisco, Alcatel, Tellabs, and Huawei, among many others," notes Joe Liu, president and CEO of Oplink. "As the market leader in providing components and subsystems for the access market, which is an important and growing market with telecom and datacom customers, OCP is a natural complement to Oplink's metro solutions strength. We believe the combined companies will make a strong competitive player, and together we have the opportunity for significant growth in revenue," he says.