Cisco to buy Lightwire in $271M cash deal
Lightwire acquisition will allow Cisco to deliver cost-effective, high-speed networks with the next generation of optical connectivity.
Cisco announced plans to buy optical technology company Lightwire in a move designed to help service-provider and data-service clients meet the growing demands of mobility and cloud services with the next generation of optical connectivity.
Cisco will pay about $271 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of Lightwire, according to the Feb. 24 company release. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2012.
Lightwire, an Allentown, Pa.-based company with offices in Santa Clara, Calif., develops advanced optical-interconnect technology for high-speed networking applications and has expertise in Silicon (CMOS) photonics technology. This technology is used to enable high-speed networks.
The acquisition complements Cisco's 2010 acquisition of CoreOptics, a designer of coherent digital signal-processing solutions and application-specific integrated circuits for high-speed optical networking applications, according to Ned Hooper, Cisco's chief strategy officer.
When the deal is completed, Lightwire employees will be integrated into Cisco's Transceiver Modules Group Business Unit and Supply Chain Operations Group.