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JDS Uniphase buys Optical Coating Laboratories for $2.8 billion

Nov. 8, 1999

To meet skyrocketing demand and lock in a vital component supplier to the fiberoptics market, JDS Uniphase (San Jose, CA) has purchased Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. (OCLI; Santa Rosa, CA) for $2.8 billion in stock. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2000, with JDS Uniphase exchanging 0.928 common shares for each share of OCLI. OCLI, which had seen its stock gain dramatically in the past months, added $49 to its stock share price, bringing it to $168 per share on the day the sale was announced.

JDS Uniphase CEO Kevin Kalkoven said, "It's how we go about significantly increasing the manufacturing capabilities of JDS Uniphase together with OCLI while, at the same time, adding some product capability."

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.