Spirent acquisition by Keysight still on track to close by April 2025
Keysight Technologies is working on divesting some of Spirent Communications’ business segments, in order to satisfy regulatory requirements so that it can close on its purchase of the U.K.-based network testing company.
In an update from Keysight on the progress of the Spirent acquisition, Keysight said that it would divest itself of Spirent’s high-speed Ethernet and network security business. Keysight added that it has already begun a competitive auction process to seek a new owner of that business, with that divestment to be completed at the same time that the Spirent acquisition closes.
Keysight outbid Viavi Solutions’ $1.3 billion purchase offer for Spirent Communications in the spring of 2024, with an offer of nearly $1.5 billion. Keysight’s president and CEO Satish Dhanasekaran said at the time of the offer that Spirent’s “differentiated portfolio” makes the company a “strong fit” for Keysight. “Keysight’s long-term customer relationships, industry expertise and global reach will help Spirent drive product development and execute on its full potential,” he added.
Keysight still expects that its pending purchase of Spirent will close sometime in the first half of its current fiscal year—in other words, before April 30, 2025. But it is working on regulatory approvals in multiple countries before that can happen.
Keysight said that thus far, the French Ministry for the Economy, Finance, and Industry has granted a conditional authorization of Spirent’s acquisition. It note that it has also received approval of the acquisition by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and by the U.K.’s Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
Keysight said that it had filed the Spirent acquisition for clearance by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China late last month.
In a business update from early November, Spirent said that it was seeing an “uptick” in its performance during the third quarter of the year, compared to the same time last year, including five percent revenue growth in the third quarter. The company said that its order intake “gathered momentum,” with specific call-outs for wins in its lifecycle service assurance and high-speed internet testing segments.
