Oclaro, Newport Finalize Deal

Oclaro Inc. announced that it has closed the deal to exchange strategic assets with Newport Corp. Under this agreement, which was first announced on June 3, 2009 (See: Oclaro, Newport Trade Assets), Newport has acquired the New Focus business of Oclaro’s Advanced Photonics Solutions division in exchange for the Newport Spectra Physics high power laser diodes business in Tucson, Ariz.

Oclaro has also received $3 million in cash proceeds which is expected to fund related transition and integration costs.

With this transaction, Oclaro believes it becomes the largest merchant supplier to the high power laser diodes market. According to the company, the Newport transaction complements the #1 or #2 positions in the long haul and metro markets that Oclaro has achieved as a result of the merger of Bookham and Avanex, which was completed in April 2009 (See: Bookham, Avanex Form Oclaro).
The merger combined the optical components expertise of Bookham with the modules and subsystems expertise of Avanex to create one of the largest suppliers of optical components, modules and subsystems to the fast growing long-haul and metro optical telecommunications markets.

The Newport Spectra Physics high power laser diode business and the Oclaro New Focus business are comparable in size, each with revenues between $20 million and $30 million in the 12 months ended March 31, 2009. The New Focus business includes optoelectronics, high-resolution actuators, optomechanics, tunable lasers, vacuum and ultraclean products and OEM-engineered products.

Newport's Tucson fab will be consolidated into Oclaro's Zurich, Switzerland, and Caswell, England, manufacturing sites.

The agreement with Newport includes a four-year supply deal whereby Oclaro will be sole source supplier of diodes to Newport Spectra Physics for a one-year period followed by majority allotment for the next three years.

For more information, visit: www.oclaro.com or www.newport.com