The Pirelli Group signed with Alcatel-Lucent an agreement to acquire the 12.4% stake held by Alcatel-Lucent in Avanex Corporation (a company listed on NASDAQ) at a market price of approximately 33.4 million euros.
With this agreement Pirelli becomes the main industrial investor in Avanex, one of the major worldwide players in optical modules and components for telecommunications. Pirelli’s entry into the share capital of Avanex takes place in a spirit of total cooperation between the two companies.
The Pirelli Group’s Broadband Solutions unit and Avanex, which have complementary technology capabilities, will explore collaboration for the development of advanced and cost-effective optical solutions to meet growing consumer demand driven by broadband applications such as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).
Within the framework of this transaction, Alcatel-Lucent signed supply agreements with both Pirelli and Avanex for related components.
“The supply agreement with Alcatel-Lucent and the investment in Avanex,” said Claudio De Conto, General Manager, Operations, of Pirelli, “strengthen the Group’s presence in the core business of second generation photonics after the start-up, in 2001, of the Pirelli Labs advanced research center and the incorporation in early 2005 of Pirelli Broadband Solutions, built on a long history of experience in the field.”
“We are glad to continue our relationship with Avanex and Pirelli.” stated Romano Valussi, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Optics activities. “We continue to make strategic moves that enable our customers to successfully address new opportunities.”
“The entry of Pirelli into the share capital of our company,” said Jo Major, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Avanex, “will allow us to continue having as an industrial investor one of the most technologically advanced players in the global optical market with more than twenty years of experience and a high-level research staff. We look forward to the future collaborations with both Alcatel-Lucent and Pirelli to innovate photonic solutions that deliver value to telecommunication networks.”
Furthermore, the agreement will strengthen the role of Milan, Italy, as a global technological hub for telecommunications infrastructures, due to the presence of Pirelli Labs, one of Alcatel-Lucent’s major R&D centers for optical solution and of the local research center of Avanex.
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