Infineon sells fibre optics
The acquisition involves the transfer of Infineon's fiber optic development, manufacturing, and certain marketing activities and 1200 employees. The Infineon business unit develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of fibre optic datacom and telecom modules supporting the common multi-source agreement (MSA) standards. The company’s bidirectional (BIDI) components transmit two-way signals on a single fibre for fibre-to-the-home applications (FTTH). Plastic optical fibre (POF) components are developed for automotive applications, specifically for media and safety systems.
Based on FQ2 data to March 31, 2004, with Infineon's business unit revenues of $32mn and Finisar’s revenue guidance $55-60mn in its FQ4 ending April 30, 2004, the companies says that the combination would create the largest pure-play optical components company in the world.
Jerry Rawls, Finisar's president and CEO, comments: "About 40% of Infineon's business is in markets where we currently don't compete including the automotive industry and emerging fibre-to-the-home opportunity."
The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2004. Assets to be transferred in the transaction include Infineon Fiber Optics GmbH with German locations in Berlin (development, manufacturing and marketing), Munich (development and manufacturing) and Regensburg (development and marketing). In addition, manufacturing facilities in Trutnov (Czech Republic), development and marketing activities in Longmont and San Jose (USA) and Infineon's stake in the ParoLink joint venture with UEC in Taiwan will be transferred. In addition, Finisar will acquire intellectual property consisting of some 450 patents and patent applications.
Infineon is expected to continue to be a strategic supplier of semiconductor chips to the combined entity.