Digital Lightwave will pay $10 million cash for Tektronix‘s
the optical network test product line.
The move enhances Digital Lightwave’s offerings for Internet protocol network operators and equipment makers, who need to be sure their systems run efficiently in order to deliver data, voice, and multimedia content to customers.
Specifically, the products measure for “optical jitter and wander,” conditions that negatively affect the flow of information. These tests are critical when bringing new Internet protocol networks into service.
The equipment ensures that traffic on networks is sent with precise timing, Paul Harris, a spokesman for Digital Lightwave told internetnews.com. Many carriers, most notably in the Asia-Pacific region, have performance standards written into their service level agreements, Harris added.
Under terms of the deal, Digital Lightwave gains inventory and 45 engineers and marketers currently at Tektronix’s Chelmsford, Mass., facility.
It also inherits unspecified liabilities such as customer warranties and employee-related obligations. The transaction is expected to close in early November, pending regulatory approval.
Jim Green, president and CEO of Clearwater, Fla.-based Digital Lightwave, said the acquisition will give it valuable technology as well as extend the company’s ” penetration of international markets.”
It’s the second recent purchase for Digital Lightwave. Previously, it scooped up Salem, Mass.-based Lightchip and about 20 of its employees, who will now work out of Chelmsford.
For its part, Tektronix, based in Beaverton, Ore., said it sought a suitor large enough to support customers as well as one with complementary products.