Ciena completed its acquisition of World Wide Packets. The deal, which was first announced in January, included $196.7 million in cash and approximately 2.5 million shares of Ciena common stock. Ciena assumed all then-outstanding World Wide Packets stock options and substituted them for the right to acquire approximately 0.9 million shares of Ciena common stock. In addition, Ciena assumed $11.3 million in outstanding World Wide Packets debt. World Wide Packets will add approximately 180 employees to Ciena, and will continue to operate from its Spokane Valley, Wash. and San Jose, Calif. locations.
“This acquisition enables us to capitalize on our early leadership in converged Ethernet solutions by accelerating the implementation and time-to-market of our Carrier Ethernet portfolio, drawing in new customers and strengthening our position in existing accounts,” said Gary Smith, Ciena president and CEO.http://www.ciena.com
- At the time the WWP deal was announced in January 2008, Ciena also announced today it has been awarded a multi-year contract with AT&T to supply the global carrier with WWP platforms. Financial terms of this contract were not disclosed, but Ciena described the contract as a multiyear deal to supply “flexible, highly-scalable Carrier Ethernet service delivery platforms.”