Ciena Acquires Certain Technology Assets From TeraXion, Boosting Its Leadership In High-Speed Optics

Ciena Corporation has signed a definitive agreement with TeraXion Inc. to acquire its high-speed photonics components (HSPC) assets for approximately USD $32 million in cash.

The deal also includes TeraXion’s high-speed indium phosphide and silicon photonics technologies as well as the critical underlying intellectual property. 

This is a very important acquisition for Ciena because those technologies are key enablers of Ciena’s leading WaveLogic coherent optical chipsets, which make the optical layer of next-generation networks more intelligent and responsive.

Hanover-based Ciena is a pioneer and market leader in coherent technology. The company introduced the industry’s first commercially-available systems, including the deployment of coherent 100G since 2009.

Scott McFeely, Senior Vice President, Networking Platforms at Ciena, said in a statement: 
“The TeraXion HSPC assets advance Ciena’s established leadership in high-speed optics and enhance our ability to develop differentiated solutions that enable service providers to scale their networks with greater programmability and agility,” and also added this: “This acquisition also reinforces our commitment to serving as a growth and innovation engine in Canada, which is home to our largest employee base and more than 50 percent of our global research and development team.”

Headquartered in Hanover, Maryland, Ciena Corporation is a network specialist and a global supplier of telecommunication networking equipment, software and services, it products are used in telecommunications networks operated by telecom companies, cable companies and government agencies. The company was founded in 1992 by David Huber, Kevin Kimberlin, Lawrence Huang and Optelecom. In 2010, Ciena made a huge move when it bought from Nortel Networks its optical networking and carrier Ethernet business for $774 million. 

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