NeoPhotonics, Photon Technology Merge

SAN JOSE, Calif. & SHENZHEN, China, July 6 --NeoPhotonics Corp. a San Jose-based supplier of planar lightwave circuit modules for optical networking applications, announced today the completion of its merger with Photon Technology Co. Ltd., of Shenzhen, China. The merger was announced in March, when NeoPhotonics acquired all of the formerly state-owned shares of Photon Technologies, China's largest supplier of active optical components, for an undisclosed combination of cash and stock.

NeoPhotonics now has more than 1200 employees in China and the US, and more than 100 customers, many of which are network equipment suppliers. The company said it expects revenues to exceed $50 million in 2005.

Tim Jenks, chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics, said the merged company is a "one-stop shop" for optical components, with a line of active and passive modules from the core to the edge of the network and a strong product portfolio for the FTTP (fiber-to-the-premise) sector.

He said the new company has the technology to achieve and deploy "photonic integration," also known as optical "system-on-a-chip" technology. Photonic integration will create greater deployment and operational efficiencies throughout a network and has the potential to lower costs and result in faster deployment of new services, among other benefits.

Specifically, the two companies combine passive planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology with high-volume laser and transceiver manufacturing capability. Market opportunities include the integration of active lasers with passive filtering and alignment on PLC substrates for low-cost triplexers used in "triple play" FTTP access networks, as well as transceiver modules for ROADMs (reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers) used in metro and long-haul networks.

NeoPhotonics will establish global headquarters in San Jose, Calif. and will maintain principal manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen, with research and development facilities there, in San Jose and in Beijing. Sales offices will be located in China, the US, Europe and other global locations.

Zhangyong Huang, formerly president and CEO of Photon Technology, is now president of the new company's China operations and was elected vice-chairman of the NeoPhotonics board. Robert Peng and Steve Xu have also joined the board, succeeding directors Ken Westrick and Maurice Gunderson.

For more information, visit: www.neophotonics.com