Cisco Buys CoreOptics For $99 Million

Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) has announced its intent to acquire privately-held CoreOptics Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) for $99 million in cash and other incentives. CoreOptics was founded in 2001 and, although headquartered in San Jose, has its main engineering resources in Nuremburg and Stuttgart, Germany. The company develops and manufactures 10G and 40G modules and ICs for optical networking. The company raised more than $90 million from leading venture capital investors including: Atila Ventures, Crescendo Ventures, GIMV, High Tech Private Equity GmbH, Quest for Growth NV, T-Com, and TVM Capital. Cisco said the acquisition of CoreOptics will enable it to equip service provider customers with 100 gigabits per second transmission technology to help scale their networks Cisco estimates that global IP traffic will increase fivefold from 2008 to 2013 with a 40 percent compound annual growth rate. The acquisition expands Cisco's optical presence in Europe, builds on its existing European operations in Monza,Italy. CoreOptics has an engineering team that has expertise in digital ASIC design, advanced modulation formats, optical systems, applications and network architecture. "With this acquisition, Cisco reinforces its commitment to continue to invest in its core networking business and to deliver IP next-generation networks at 100 Gbps and beyond," said Surya Panditi, vice president and general manager of Cisco's service provider access and transport technology group, in a statement. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2010