Lumentum, Viavi Part Ways after JDSU Breakup
The two halves of the former JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU) are now charting separate courses.
The company's communications and commercial optics products division split off Aug. 1 and became known as Lumentum Holdings Inc.
After the spinoff, JDSU renamed itself Viavi Solutions Inc. The new company will continue operations of JDSU's network enablement and optical security products divisions.
Viavi's board of directors Tuesday appointed Chairman Richard E. Belluzzo as interim president and CEO. He succeeds Tom Waechter, who stepped down after the separation.
Lumentum will focus on products for optical networking, laser materials processing, biotechnology and analytics, and 3D sensing.
"With a more focused and agile structure, we believe that we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities in both the communications and commercial lasers markets," said Lumentum President and CEO Alan Lowe, who also led the business when it was part of JDSU.
JDSU ended fiscal 2015 on June 27 with a net loss of $85.3 million, or 37 centers per diluted share. Its 2014 net loss was $17.8 million, or 8 cents per diluted share.
Lumentum expects revenues in the range of $205 million to $215 million in its first quarter, which ends Sept. 26.
Viavi expects revenues of approximately $212 million and earnings of approximately 6 cents per share in the first quarter of its fiscal 2016, which ends Oct. 3.
The Viavi board has begun the search for a permanent chief executive and also plans to expand from five to eight members.
Belluzzo, a member of the board since 2005, is a U.S. venture partner for Innogest SpA and consults with The Gores Group LLC, a private equity firm, and Bravosolution SpA, a private cloud software company. He has held several leadership positions in the technology industry, including as chairman and CEO at Quantum Corp., chief operating officer at Microsoft Corp. and executive vice president of the Computer Products Group at Hewlett-Packard Co.
Amar Maletira will join Viavi as executive vice president and chief financial officer next month, replacing Rex S. Jackson. Maletira previously held a series of executive positions at Hewlett-Packard. He has a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering from Karnataka University in India, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.
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