LISLE, Ill.-Telecommunications equipment providers Tellabs Inc. and Ciena Corp. announced they have agreed to merge in a pooling-of-interest that will make Ciena a subsidiary of Tellabs.
Under the terms of the agreement, one share of Tellabs stock will be exchanged for each share of outstanding Ciena stock. Based on the June 2 closing price of Tellabs’ common stock, the transaction is valued at about $7.1 billion. The combined company will keep the Tellabs name.
“Ciena’s expertise in dense wavelength division multiplexing is a perfect fit with Tellabs’ Sonet/SD11 managed transport capabilities,” said Michael J. Birck, president and chief executive officer of Tellabs.
The transaction, expected to close during Tellabs’ third quarter, is subject to the customary government and shareholder approvals.
Morgan Stanley represented Ciena in the transaction, while Goldman Sachs acted as financial adviser to Tellabs.
Also awaiting regulatory approval is a proposed $670 million merger that would make Coherent Communications Systems Corp. a wholly owned subsidiary of Tellabs.
