Agilent to Acquire Italian Telecom'sOptical Technology Center

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 25 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. has agreed to acquire the Optical Technology Center (OTC) from Telecom Italia's central research laboratory, CSELT. Agilent will acquire 50 OTC research employees and modern facilities in Turin, Italy, including advanced laboratory equipment and the research center's patent portfolio. The parties expect to complete the transaction within a month, subject to closing conditions and approval from the Italian Antitrust Authority. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Agilent indicated that it expects OTC's advanced technology and research facilities to speed the company's delivery of 10-Gb/s and dense wavelength division multiplexing technologies to the telecom and datacom markets.