CIENA to Acquire Wavesmith

LINTHICUM, Md., April 10 -- CIENA Corp. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire WaveSmith Networks Inc., of Acton, Mass., a maker of multiservice switching products, for about $158 million in stock. CIENA was an investor in WaveSmith’s third round of financing and resells WaveSmith’s equipment under a previously announced worldwide sales and reseller agreement.

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, WaveSmith will merge into CIENA, and all remaining outstanding shares of WaveSmith common and preferred stock will be exchanged for approximately 36 million shares of CIENA common stock. CIENA also will assume WaveSmith’s employee stock options, which will be converted into options to purchase CIENA shares. The aggregate value of the shares to be issued by CIENA for this acquisition is approximately $158 million, which is net of the return on CIENA’s original investment in WaveSmith resulting from the merger.

The boards of directors of both CIENA and WaveSmith have approved the transaction, which is expected to close during CIENA’s 2003 third fiscal quarter. WaveSmith will continue to operate from Acton.

For more information, visit: www.ciena.com/investors