Nokia completed its acquisition of Infinera Corporation, integrating the San Jose-based optical networking company into its operations. The deal enhances Nokia’s scale and technological capabilities in optical networks, positioning it to better serve webscale customers and network operators amid growing AI-driven data demands. Infinera’s team will merge with Nokia’s Optical Networks business, while CEO David Heard will take on a strategic leadership role within Nokia’s Network Infrastructure division.
The acquisition reinforces Nokia’s presence in the webscale segment and expands its ability to address data center networking challenges, particularly those driven by AI and cloud infrastructure growth. Nokia aims to accelerate product roadmaps and improve innovation speed by leveraging the expertise of both companies, including research from Nokia Bell Labs. The company also reaffirmed its financial targets for the merger, including projected synergies exceeding EUR 200 million by 2027 and over 10% comparable EPS accretion by that year.
Nokia structured the deal as a US$6.65 per share acquisition, with Infinera shareholders able to receive cash, Nokia shares, or a combination of both, subject to proration limits on stock issuance. The transaction, which closed swiftly following regulatory approvals, is expected to contribute to Nokia’s profitability in 2025. The combined entity now supports more than 1,000 global customers across service providers, enterprises, utilities, government, and research sectors.
• Nokia has completed the acquisition of Infinera, strengthening its optical networking business.
• The deal expands Nokia’s presence in webscale and AI-driven data center networking.
• Infinera’s CEO David Heard joins Nokia’s Network Infrastructure group as Chief Strategic Growth Officer.
• Nokia reconfirms EUR 200 million in synergy targets by 2027, with expected EPS accretion of over 10%.
• The acquisition was structured at $6.65 per share, with a mix of cash and stock options for shareholders.
“I am delighted we have been able to quickly and successfully complete the acquisition of Infinera. This transaction will significantly improve our scale and profitability in optical networks, and allows us to speed up the pace of innovation to meet the requirements of the AI era. The Infinera acquisition will accelerate our growth strategy in data centers and strengthen our presence both in North America and with webscale customers,” remarked Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia.
“The speed with which the transaction was approved is very positive for Nokia, as is the strong support the deal has received from customers. In welcoming our new colleagues – and the talent and expertise they bring with them – we are creating a new organization that will be a pace-setter in innovation, offering capabilities across a wide range of optical networking technologies, underpinned by the cutting-edge research of Nokia Bell Labs. Innovation benefits from scale, and the expansion offered by the acquisition means that we will be able to bring more to customers, faster,” commented Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure at Nokia.
Ahead of the official closing of the merger, Infinera reported the following financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending December 28, 2024.
• Q4 2024 Financials:
• Revenue: $414.4 million, down from $453.5 million in Q4 2023.
• GAAP Gross Margin: 38.0%, slightly lower than 38.6% in the same quarter of the previous year.
• GAAP Net Loss: $(26.3) million, or $(0.11) per diluted share, compared to a net income of $12.9 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, in Q4 2023.
• Fiscal Year 2024 Overview:
• Revenue: $1,418.4 million, a decrease from $1,614.1 million in 2023.
• GAAP Gross Margin: 38.4%, consistent with 38.6% in the prior year.
• GAAP Net Loss: $(150.3) million, or $(0.64) per diluted share, compared to $(25.2) million, or $(0.11) per diluted share, in 2023.
• Operational Highlights:
• Achieved a book-to-bill ratio of approximately 1.1x for FY’24 and 1.3x for Q4’24, indicating strong bookings and backlog.
• Recorded revenue with web-scale customers, with total revenue exposure (direct and indirect) exceeding 50% of FY’24 revenue.
• Secured significant design wins across the GX systems portfolio with web-scale customers and Tier 1 Communications Service Providers (CSPs).
• Received substantial awards for ICE-X 400G and 800G pluggables from web-scale customers and Tier 1 CSPs.
• Launched ICE-D to address the projected multi-billion dollar intra-data center opportunity driven by AI workloads.
• Secured CHIPS & Science Act funding with the potential for more than $200 million in total federal incentives, in addition to potential state and local incentives.
• Announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Nokia, with the acquisition anticipated to be completed on or about February 28, 2025.
These results reflect Infinera’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its market position and technological capabilities in the optical networking industry.
An Infinera Timeline
Infinera Major Events Timeline
• 2000: Infinera was founded by Drew Perkins, Jagdeep Singh, and David Welch.
• 2004: Infinera launched its first product, the DTN (Digital Transport Node).
• 2007: Infinera went public and was listed on NASDAQ under the ticker INFN.
• 2013: Introduced the DTN-X platform, enabling large-scale optical transport networks.
• 2015: Infinera acquired Transmode, a provider of metro packet-optical networking solutions.
• 2017: Launched the Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE4) technology for high-performance networks.
• 2018: Announced the acquisition of Coriant, expanding its market reach and technology portfolio.
• 2020: Introduced ICE6 technology, the sixth generation of Infinera’s Infinite Capacity Engine.
• 2021: Launched XR Optics, a new approach to point-to-multipoint optical networks.
• 2022: Expanded the portfolio with ICE-X optics, targeting metro, long-haul, and subsea applications.
