Xtera, a provider of subsea optical communications solutions, has announced that, following the acquisition of the company by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital earlier in February, it has appointed a new leadership team.
As part of the company’s new organisation, Dr. Stuart Barnes, Xtera’s chairman and chief strategy officer, has announced the following appointments to the leadership team:
Douglas Umbers as CEO
With experience across a range of industries, Mr. Umbers has a track record of reinvigorating businesses that spans over two decades. As CEO of Xtera, he will be responsible for leading the execution of the company’s goal of becoming a major player in the subsea communications market.
Most recently, Mr. Umbers served in executive board level roles at VT Group (now Babcock International), where he ran the IT and communications division, and as COO at Arqiva, the UK telecoms and broadcast infrastructure group.
Jayesh Pankhania as CFO
Mr. Pankhania has more than 25 years experience in senior finance roles, and as CFO at Xtera will be responsible for overseeing the company’s capital structure and maintaining its financial standing. He has previously served in multiple senior roles with public and private companies, including as CFO at HOC Group and with Asia Resource Minerals.
In addition, Keith Henderson, co-founder of Xtera, will serve as COO and Robert Richardson, co-founder of the company, will serve as chief sales officer.
Dr. Barnes, Mr. Umbers and Mr. Pankhania are based at Xtera’s Harold Wood office near London in the UK; Mr. Henderson is based in Allen, Texas near Dallas and Mr. Richardson is based in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, near Atlanta.
The new executive team is supported by the company’s experienced senior management team that includes its recently appointed CTO Tony Frisch and SVP of Turnkey Systems, Joerg Schwartz.
XTERA Communications Acquired by H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm with over €20 billion of equity capital under management, has acquired substantially all the assets of Xtera Communications, a supplier of sub-sea fiber optic solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
H.I.G. previously provided debtor-in-possession financing to the Xtera debtors in connection with the chapter 11 case.
Established in 1998 and based in the UK (Harold Wood, Essex) and the US (Allen, Texas), Xtera supplies un-repeatered and repeatered sub-sea systems, using high performance optical amplifiers to carry data. Under H.I.G.’s ownership, Xtera’s management and technical team will remain at the helm of the business, focused on successfully executing key existing customer contracts and expanding the business in the rapidly growing markets it serves with a clear roadmap of disruptive product launches.
Carl Harring, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital commented: “We believe Xtera has considerable growth potential as an independent, well-funded business with a new ownership structure. Its world class IP protected technology is not only differentiated and superior to that of its competitors, but it is delivered to an impressive range of global clients at a cost-effective price point. We are excited to be working with this industry-leading team and our immediate focus will be to work with them to deliver and build on existing contracts and over the long-term, provide the financial support to enable the company to fully capitalise on its technology with a broader base of customers.”
Stuart Barnes, Founder of Xtera, added: “We are delighted to announce our new partnership with H.I.G. Capital, which has previously invested in the fiber-optics sector and has a proven understanding of how to grow specialist industrial suppliers into market-leading players. We share the same vision of strengthening Xtera’s footprint in the future.”
http://www.xtera.com/
