HUBER+SUHNER to buy optical switch vendor Polatis

May 31, 2016

Swiss communications infrastructure provider HUBER+SUHNER says it agreed May 30, 2016, to acquire optical switch vendor Polatis. Terms of the deal, expected to close in June, were not disclosed. However, HUBER+SUHNER said it would pay for its new assets from company funds.

Privately held Polatis, headquartered in Bedford, MA, and Cambridge, UK, has 110 employees. It has specialized in all-optic switches since its founding (see, for example, "Polatis Series 7000 optical circuit switch offers 384x384 ports") and has seen success breaking into the data center market as well as aligning its products to the trend toward software-defined networks.

The company's product management, research, development, prototyping, and low-volume production reside in England, while high-volume production takes place in Poland. The U.S. arm of the company focuses on sales. Polatis will form a business unit within HUBER+SUHNER's Fiber Optics division.

"Polatis's pioneering technology strengthens our position as the leading innovator in the field of fiber optics," asserted Urs Kaufmann, CEO of HUBER+SUHNER. "In our interconnected world, digitalization continues at a furious pace, and volumes of data are growing exponentially. The Polatis technology enables these huge data streams to be managed speedily, efficiently and securely.

"HUBER+SUHNER will further invest into Polatis and we expect to see a breakthrough in the data center market and a positive financial contribution within the next 2 to 3 years. We are pleased that we can count on the full commitment of the complete Polatis management team as we continue to develop the company," Kaufmann concluded.

This is not HUBER+SUHNER's first foray into expansion by acquisition. For example, the company bought WDM technology supplier Cube Optics in 2014 (see "Huber+Suhner buys Cube Optics").

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