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27 March 2007

Optium to acquire Kailight for 40Gb/s technologies

Optium Corp of Horsham, PA, USA, which manufactures optical subsystems for telecoms and cable TV networks, has agreed to acquire Kailight Photonics Inc of Dallas, TX, USA, which develops 40Gb/s optical telecoms transmission, signal regeneration and wavelength conversion modules.

The purchase price is about $35m. Optium will also pay up to $5m more to Kailight stock-holders based on the business reaching certain milestones through Optium's fiscal second-quarter 2009. The acquired business is expected to contribute to earnings early in 2008. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-May.

Kailight’s 300-pin 40Gb/s transceivers address line-side and client-side applications. The modules enable new functionality, such as integrated PMD (polarization mode disperson) compensation and multiple modulation formats, not currently available for any existing 300-pin 40Gb/s transceivers on the market, the firm claims.

Optium expects Kailight's 40Gb/s technology to be a key driver in the transition from custom line-card solutions to module-based solutions, while providing a cost-effective path for migration to next-generation modulation formats. The transceivers have been qualified with several system integrators and have begun shipping in pre-production quantities.

The acquisition will build on Optium's suite of optical transport solutions, which features fully wavelength agile DWDM, SONET and 10GE transceivers and subsystems, 10Gb/s pluggable transceivers, CATV trunking and distribution subsystems and its next-generation WSS reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) product line (enabling dynamic wavelength processing) which was introduced recently. The acquisition will also enable Optium to provide full line-card solutions of all variations of 40Gb/s applications, the firm adds.

"The combined strength of the two companies will optimize Kailight's next-generation 40Gb/s technologies and intellectual property by leveraging Optium's proven skills in bringing advanced technologies to market as well as its strong customer relationships,” recons Kailight’s president and CEO Sagie Tsadka.

Optium’s chairman and CEO Eitan Gertel says that the acquisition represents another step in the firm’s commitment to supply core-to-the-edge optical transmission solutions and is consistent with its strategy to target the fastest growing segments of the optical transport market.

Visit Optium: http://www.optium.com

Visit Kailight: http://www.kailight.com