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To: signist who wrote (23570)	9/6/2000 6:07:01 PM
From: Bridge Player	Respond to of 42804

If this one was already posted, sorry for the dup. Optical Communications Products Inc. Investors' appetite for optical communications products is leading one of Japan's leading manufacturers of such components to spin off a portion of its U.S. operations in an IPO filed Aug. 31. edgar-online.com Optical Communications Products Inc., based in Chatsworth, CA, is a subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Co., one of the world's top five makers of components for optical communications systems. Optical Communications, which is expected to trade under the ticker OCPI, designs and manufactures high-performance opto-electronic transceivers used in short-range applications, such as metropolitan area networks. The proposed $115 million deal is underwritten by UBS Warburg, J.P. Morgan & Co., U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray and Wit SoundView. OPCI's technology enables high-speed communication of voice and data traffic over public and private networks. The company targets metropolitan area and high-speed premises networks. Customers include communication and networking equipment manufacturers such as 3Com, Alcatel, CIENA, Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. Internet traffic capacity in North America is estimated to grow at an average annual rate of 160% between 2000 and 2003, according to the market research firm, Ryan, Hankin & Kent. Service providers are opting to replace copper cable-based transmission technology with fiber optic transmission technology. Ryan Hankin estimates the market for fiber optic components, which was $6.6 billion last year, will grow to $22.5 billion in 2003. Currently, OPCI is 70%-owned by Furukawa. After the IPO, the Japanese parent will continue to control the company, through ownership of all of its class B common, which has 10 votes compared with one for the class A shares being sold. In the nine months ended June 30, OPCI had revenue of $69.1 million and net income of $16.7 million. Cisco alone accounted for 36.6% of revenues in the period, and Alcatel another 13.4%. The company has 290 employees. OPCI, along with Infineon Technologies Corp., is being sued by Methode Electronics Inc. over alleged patent infringement. Methode also manufactures fiber-optic transceivers. OPCI asserts the Methode patents are invalid. ** USER NOTE: See "Legal Proceedings" in Optical's S-1 filed on August 31 edgar-online.com