JDSU to Split in Two

JDSU plans to separate into two publicly-traded companies, a move it says will help it keep pace with the changing telecommunications and cloud network markets.

“We believe two fundamentally focused companies best position us to stay ahead of the accelerating pace of technology change and to compete even more effectively across the unique markets we serve today,” said CEO Tom Waechter.

The split is expected to occur through a tax-free pro rata spinoff process to be finalized in the third quarter of calendar 2015.

Waechter will remain CEO of the portion of the business focused on networks. Alan Lowe will become CEO of the communications and commercial optics products (CCOP) segment, of which he is now president.

The names of the new companies are to be announced at a later date.

Among other benefits, the company said the split will allow it to grow its commercial lasers and 3-D sensing businesses.

The CCOP segment’s fiscal 2014 revenues were $794.1 million. It serves a $7.4 billion optical communications market expected to grow at a compounded rate of 11 percent over the next four years, according to the research firm Ovum. It also addresses an approximate $2.5 billion commercial lasers market, expected to grow at 7 percent annually, according to Strategies Unlimited and JDSU predictions.

Revenues for JDSU’s cloud network segment were $949.5 million in fiscal 2014. On its own, the segment will address a roughly $7 billion market expected to grow at 6 to 8 percent annually, according to company projections.

The company’s optical security business, which serves a $1.1 billion market, will stay with the network segment after the split. It will continue to focus on preventing currency counterfeiting, as well as optical components and instruments for security, safety, electronics and other applications.

For more information, visit www.jdsu.com.