Gemfire to Acquire Avanex PLC Unit

FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 9 -- Gemfire Corp. of Fremont has signed an agreement to acquire a Scotland-based unit of Avanex Corp. -- also of Fremont -- for an undisclosed sum.

Under the terms of the deal, Gemfire will acquire Avanex's silica planar lightwave circuit (PLC) unit based in Livingston, Scotland. Gemfire will acquire all outstanding capital stock of the UK subsidiary of Avanex, which in turn will acquire a minority equity interest in GC Holdings, Gemfire's parent company. The companies said the transaction is expected to close this quarter and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Gemfire said the passive PLC products from Avanex's UK operations will complement its polymer PLC dynamic waveguide products. After the acquisition, Gemfire will specialize in providing integrated planar WDM solutions to the optical networking systems market.

"The Livingston facility includes one of the most advanced production lines in the world for WDM planar devices, and operations will be transferred without disruption," Gemfire said.

Walter Alessandrini, Avanex's chairman and CEO, said Avanex has made a strategic decision to focus on optical subsystems and that the agreement with Gemfire ensures that its customers for planar waveguide technologies will continue to be supported.

Avanex also has facilities in Erwin Park, N.Y.; Nozay, France; and San Donato, Italy. Gemfire is a photonics company headquartered in Fremont, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.gemfire.com