Finisar agreed to acquire Infineon’s fiber optics business unit 135 million shares of Finisar common stock. The acquisition transaction implies a valuation of US$263 million based on the closing share price as of 28-April-2004. Following the transaction, Infineon will hold a 38% equity interest in Finisar. Infineon’s fiber business is based in Munich, Germany. Finisar is based in Sunnyvale, California.
The acquisition involves the transfer of Infineon’s fiber optic development, manufacturing, and certain marketing activities and approximately 1,200 employees. The Infineon Fiber Optics Business Unit develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of fiber optic datacom and telecom modules supporting the common MSA standards, BIDI components that allow bi-directional transmission on a single fiber for fiber-to-the-home applications (FTTH) and Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) components that are used in automotive applications, specifically, for media and safety systems.
“This combination will be an important step in the ongoing consolidation of the fiber optic market,” said Thomas Seifert, CEO of Infineon’s Wireline Communications Business Group. “In Finisar, we have found an excellent strategic partner with a mutual interest in securing the future of the Fiber Optics Business unit. As one of the largest pure-play optical components companies, the combined forces will be able to provide more flexibility, broader product portfolio and cost efficiency to meet our customer requirements.”http://www.finisar.comhttp://www.infineon.com
