JDS Uniphase will buy SIFAM Fibre Optics

17 Jun 2002

JDS Uniphase will buy the UK-based SIFAM Fibre Optics for 60 million UK pounds in cash. JDS Uniphase's purchase of a major supplier of fused telecommunications components is scheduled for completion in December 1999.

The latest addition to the JDS Uniphase family will retain the name SIFAM Fibre Optics Limited and will continue to be based in Torquay, UK. Liz Webber of SIFAM Fibre Optics says that the management structure will also remain the same.

The acquisition by JDS Uniphase will allow the smaller company to expand. SIFAM Fibre Optics currently employs about 200 people, but it is looking to recruit a further 200 people in the UK over the next year. Webber says that the acquisition will not affect SIFAM's relationship with its other customers.

SIFAM Fibre Optics makes fused components that split, recombine and filter light in optical fibre. These products are needed for optical amplifiers, such as those employed in telecommunications to improve the quality of a light signal. JDS Uniphase says that SIFAM's fused couplers give the lowest optical loss currently available.

Alongside the sale of the Fibre Optics company, SIFAM, the parent company, will sell its other business interests.

SH