MAHWAH, N.J., July 26 -- Adva Optical Networking announced today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining 70-percent ownership stake in Metro Packet Systems Inc., a private Ethernet startup company.
"The team of nine engineers at Metro Packet Systems possesses extensive knowledge and expertise in the area of carrier-class Ethernet technology, particularly systems targeted at metropolitan access networks and customer premise sites," Advan said in a statement. "This acquisition underscores Adva's commitment to building up a second core business around Ethernet access solutions."
Metro Packet Systems is based in Delaware and has a subsidiary based in Stockholm, Sweden, where the engineering team is based.
Adva initially purchased a 30-percent stake in Metro Packet Systems in September 2003. Metro Packet Systems played an important role in the development of Adva's Fiber Service Platform 150 product lines, a new carrier-class native Ethernet access solution launched in March. Adva will acquire the remaining 70-percent stake for a total purchase price of approximately 4.1 million euros to be paid in 872,093 shares of common stock in Adva, via a capital increase to be issued in exchange for all outstanding shares of Metro Packet Systems Inc. A further cash earn-out position of up to 4.5 million euros may be paid based on achievement of specific sales targets in 2005 for products developed by Metro Packet Systems.
The acquisition, which is subject to standard closing conditions, is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
Adva said Metro Packet Systems will be fully integrated into its engineering organization. Lars Ramfelt, CEO of Metro Packet Systems, will become a vice president, technology strategy, at Adva.
For more information, visit: www.advaoptical.com