Business briefs

21 May 2004

Including news from Tellabs, JDS Uniphase, Cree and Nufern.

Acquisitions:

•   Tellabs, a leader in bandwidth management and optical transport, is purchasing fellow US firm AFC, a provider of broadband access solutions. The $1.9 billion cash and stock deal will create a combined company employing over 4000 people, with R&D centers across the US and also in Denmark and Finland.

•  JDS Uniphase has acquired E2O Communications for $60 million in cash. Founded in 1998 and with recent quarterly revenues in excess of $5 million, E2O manufactures optical transceivers and is a supplier to major datacom customers. With this acquition, JDS Uniphase expects to strengthen its position in the data communications market.

Contracts:

•  US-based Research Electro-Optics (REO) has successfully delivered a set of Z filters to the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. The filters are for WFCAM widefield camera installed in the UK Infrared Telescope sited on Mauna Kea, and will help make it the most capable IR imaging survey instrument in the world.

•  Japanese firm Sumitomo has signed a contract to purchase $160 million of Cree’s LED products between now and June 2005. Chuck Swoboda, Cree’s president and CEO stated, “This new agreement is the largest purchase agreement in Cree’s history.” North Carolina based Cree, develops and manufactures semiconductor materials and devices based on silicon carbide, gallium nitride, silicon and related compounds.

Funding:

•  Xanoptix the US developer of parallel optical interconnects, has secured an additional $15.2 million in funding. The funds will be used to further develop Xanoptix’s hybrid integrated circuit technology and to expand its XTM series of optical interconnects. This latest investment round was led by William Blair Capital Partners, Euclid SR Partners, Envest Ventures and Optical Partners.

Licensing:

•  Nufern, the US maker of speciality optical fibers, has licensed United Technologies (UTC) patent portfolio. Research scientists at UTC did some of the early work on fiber lasers using fiber bragg gratings. The patent portfolio licenced by Nufern also relates to fiber lasers with a MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) design.