Bookham Technology to Acquire Ignis Optics

OXFORDSHIRE, England, Sept. 25 -- Bookham Technology plc, which announced Monday that it will acquire New Focus Inc., announced today it will acquire Ignis Optics Inc., a provider of optical modules for communications networks based in San Jose, Calif., for $15.5 million in stock, based on a four-week average.

Ignis designs and manufactures small form-factor pluggable (SFP and XFP) single-mode optical transceivers for current and next-generation optical datacom and telecom networks. Bookham said Ignis' transceiver design skills provide an excellent match to its position in optics and electronics design, and that the combination will accelerate Bookham's move to provide a full XFP and SFP product set at multiple speeds and different reaches.

Giorgio Anania, Bookham's president and CEO, said, "Bookham is currently the No. 2 telecom optical components supplier worldwide, but to date we have not played significantly in the datacom market, which is a large market opportunity for our optical know-how and manufacturing capabilities. With this agreement to acquire Ignis, we are signaling our intent to enter this market. The technical team at Ignis is widely regarded as having a clear leadership in the field of next-generation pluggable optics. We see the combination of our skill sets as further enhancing Bookham's market opportunities."

The acquisition is expected to be completed in early October.

In 2002, Bookham acquired the optical components businesses of Nortel Networks and Marconi. In July 2003, the company acquired Cierra Photonics and in September announced the proposed acquisition of New Focus.

For more information, visit: www.bookham.com