Lucent Buys Optical Device Supplier Herrmann Technology

MURRAY HILL, N.J., June 20 -- Lucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group has acquired Herrmann Technology Inc. Herrmann Technology, a privately owned company in Dallas, supplies devices for next-generation dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical networks.
Lucent made the purchase for about 7.3 million shares of its common stock, totaling about $438 million, based on Lucent's stock price of $60 ended June 16. Shareholders at Herrmann Technology will get another 675,000 shares of the stock price ended June 16 -- worth about $40 million -- if Herrmann Technologies meets certain performance-based guidelines.
Herrmann Technology's thin-film process technology is used to make passive optical filters, which are important tools for the arrangement of optoelectronic components for DWDM networks. These networks increase optical fiber capacity, allowing for many streams of voice, video and data to travel through a single fiber optic cable. The thin-film filters stop interference between different wavelength channels by blocking undesired frequencies of light.
Coupling Herrmann Technology's critical technology with our broad product portfolio will speed our delivery of highly integrated solutions that will help lower design, development, and manufacturing costs for our customers, said Dan DiLeo, president of optoelectronic products at Lucent's Microelectronics Group.