Monday, January 10, 2005

Infineon Terminates Business Unit Sale to Finisar

Infineon terminated the agreement under which Finisar had agreed to acquire its fiber optics business unit. Infineon cited circumstances beyond its control, including delays related to SEC filings, for the breakdown of the agreement. In addition, the company said the significant delay and high uncertainty of the deal closing are likely to result in deterioration of its Fiber Optics business and in potential harm to its customers. Infineon will undertake a restructuring of the business unit and may pursue legal options to recover the damages.
http://www.infineon.com

  • In April 2004, Finisar agreed to acquire Infineon's fiber optics business in a stock deal valued at US$263 million at the time.


  • Infineon's fiber business is based in Munich, Germany. Finisar is based in Sunnyvale, California.


  • The acquisition would have involved the transfer of Infineon's fiber optic development, manufacturing, and certain marketing activities and approximately 1,200 employees (April 2004). The Infineon Fiber Optics Business Unit develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of fiber optic datacom and telecom modules supporting the common MSA standards, BIDI components that allow bi-directional transmission on a single fiber for fiber-to-the-home applications (FTTH) and Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) components that are used in automotive applications, specifically, for media and safety systems.