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Technology Stocks : SDL, Inc. [Nasdaq: SDLI] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pat mudge who wrote (3862)	2/6/2001 2:56:33 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3951

News breaking today: 02/06 02:44 JDS Gets U.S. DOJ Approval to Buy SDL for $17.6 Bln (Update1) By George Stein San Jose, California, Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- JDS Uniphase Corp., the biggest maker of fiber-optic components, gained U.S. Justice Department approval for its $17.6 billion acquisition of rival SDL Inc., people familiar with the transaction said. To satisfy U.S. antitrust concerns, JDS Uniphase agreed to sell a Swiss plant to Nortel Networks Corp. for about $3 billion, people familiar said. That transaction also received approval from the Justice Department, which was concerned that the combined JDS Uniphase and SDL would have dominant control over the market for lasers used to amplify signals on the hair-thin strands of glass that make up fiber networks, the people said. JDS wants to gain factories where SDL makes a powerful version of the 980-nanometer pump lasers that some customers prefer. SDL also brings to JDS additional capacity to produce so- called modules that combine several components into standardized parts that cut costs and reduce manufacturing needs for makers of fiber-optic equipment. The sale of the Zurich, Switzerland, plant is for about $2.5 billion in Nortel stock plus as much as $500 million in future payments tied to component-supply agreements, the people said. Announcement of the U.S. regulatory approval and the plant sale is scheduled for Tuesday, they said. Latest in Wave The transactions are the latest in a wave of consolidation in fiber-optic components that Uniphase Corp. sparked when it agreed to buy JDS Fitel Inc. in January 1999. The combined company was renamed JDS Uniphase and subsequently acquired Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. and E-Tek Dynamics Inc., among other rivals. Corning Inc., Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. also joined in the acquisition spree, hoping to expand in the fast-growing market for fiber-optic components. Nortel and Lucent, together with Alcatel SA, Ciena Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. buy such parts to make the systems that beam information along the strands of glass in fiber networks. The market for optical components will swell to almost $24 billion in worldwide sales in 2004 from $5 billion last year, according to South San Francisco market researcher RHK Inc. Nortel plans to sell shares in its fiber-optic components business later this year. Corning discussed acquiring SDL before JDS Uniphase agreed to buy the company on July 10. It then held unsuccessful talks to buy Nortel's components business. Last month, JDS Uniphase and SDL moved shareholder meetings to vote on the acquisition to Feb. 12 from Jan. 26, saying the Justice Department needed additional time to consider a proposed remedy to antitrust concerns. That was the second time the San Jose, California-based companies had delayed the meetings. They pushed them back 30 days in December. Nortel spokesman Dave Chamberlin and JDS Uniphase spokesman Jeff Wild declined to comment. SDL and Justice Department officials weren't immediately available to comment. The SDL acquisition had a value of $41 billion when announced on July 10. A slide in JDS Uniphase shares cut the value more than half to $17.6 billion, based on the exchange ratio of 3.8 JDS Uniphase shares for each share of SDL. JDS shares were unchanged at $50. SDL fell 23 cents to $185.38.