In its biggest move yet, JDS Uniphase plans merger with E-Tek
In an all-stock deal valued at approximately $15 billion, E-Tek Dynamics (San Jose, CA) will become a wholly held unit of JDS Uniphase Corp. (San Jose, CA). E-Tek shareholders will receive 1.1 shares of JDS Uniphase for every share of E-Tek. The companies said the merger will allow them to grow operations faster and produce a greater volume and broader range of products. E-Tek has approximately 2450 employees; JDS Uniphase employs more than 8200.
Lucent acquires Ortel with its CATv and laser capabilities
In a deal worth approximately $2.95 billion, Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) has bought Ortel Corp. (Alhambra, CA). The purchase will give Lucent access to Ortel's optoelectronic components for cable-television (CATv) networks and help move CATv networks from one-way broadcast to a two-way interactive medium. Lucent will also gain Ortel's uncooled 980-nm pump lasers for amplifiers in metropolitan-area networks as well as 10-Gbit/s transceiver components for optical networking.
Corning invests in its infrastructure
Over the next three years, Corning Incorporated (Corning, NY) will invest $750 million to increase its optical-fiber manufacturing capabilities by more than 50%. Equipment enhancements or plant expansions will occur at the company's Wilmington and Concord plants in North Carolina and its
Noble Park plant in victoria, Australia. The company also is significantly increasing the thin-film-filter manufacturing capability of its Marlborough, MA, facility. As a result, Corning will increase shipment of its 200- and 100-GHz dense wavelength-division multiplexing devices.
Nanovation funds MIT research, allies with Cronos
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, MA) and Nanovation Technologies (Miami, FL) have formed a partnership creating a new research center within the MIT Materials Processing Center. Nanovation is funding the center for six years with $90 million to conduct basic research on photonic, microphotonic, and nanophotonic devices, circuits, and systems for communications. Robert Tatum, president and CEO of Nanovation, and physics professor David Litster, MIT vice president of research, will oversee the collaboration. In separate news, Nanovation has formed an alliance with Cronos Integrated Microsystems (Research Triangle Park, NC) to develop a family of optical networking products that combine the microelectromechanical technology developed by Cronos with Nanovation's microcavity and photonic-waveguide technologies.
Several companies announce unrelated expansions and new facilities
As part of a wave of recent expansions, Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA) announced plans to extend its communications-research organization by creating Agilent Laboratories Scotland (South Queensferry, Scotland). Meanwhile, DiCon Fiberoptics (Richmond, CA) is adding 50,000 sq ft of manufacturing space to its existing 93,000-sq ft facility and planning to develop a new 27-acre campus for component manufacturing. And Fujitsu (Tokyo, Japan) is establishing an optical networking research facility in Richardson, TX, and an engineering center for advanced communication products in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Also in the news . . .
PerkinElmer (Wellesley, MA) has taken a 13% equity stake in Bragg Photonics (Dorval, Québec, Canada); terms of the multimillion-dollar investment were not disclosed. . . . Ralf Faber has been named president of NetOptix (formerly Galileo Corp.; Sturbridge, MA), succeeding Gerhard Andlinger, who will continue as chairman and CEO; simultaneously, NetOptix shed its women's health businesses and will use the proceeds to reduce debt and fund growth of its DWDM business. . . . Cielo Communications (Broomfield, CO) announced venture financing totaling $37 million to increase production of its vCSEL products and finance revenue growth. . . . Alcoa Fujikura Ltd. (Brentwood, TN) has acquired fiberoptic test-equipment maker Noyes Fiber Systems (Belmont, NH) on undisclosed terms.
W. Conard Holton
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