Oclaro and Newport to Exchange Assets
Source/Type: Reported News

Author: CompoundSemi News Staff

June 3, 2009... Oclaro Inc, the company resulting from the merging of Bookham and Avanex based in San Jose, California USA, reports that it has signed a definitive agreement with Newport Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, Newport will acquire the New Focus business of Oclaro's Advanced Photonics Solutions division in exchange for the Newport Spectra Physics high power laser diodes business. Oclaro will also receive $3 million in cash proceeds, which is expected to fund the substantial portion of related transition and integration costs. As part of the deal, Newport's Tucson fab will consolidate into Oclaro's Caswell and Zurich fabs. Oclaro projects that this will increase wafer volumes by about 30% and improve the gross margin for its telecom products. Upon closing, Oclaro says the transaction will enable it to expand its high power laser diode portfolio with a deeper expertise in systems and packaging. According to Oclaro, says its expanded portfolio has the potential to yield gross margins of 40% or better.

"Oclaro is executing on its strategy to become a predominant force in the fiber optics industry," said Alain Couder, president and CEO, Oclaro, Inc. "The high power laser diodes business is ideally aligned with Oclaro's business model, corporate growth strategy and core competencies." Oclaro News Release

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