Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) has regained preferred buyer status with Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHR) after submitting an acceptable offer for the company by the deadline Coherent imposed earlier in the week. Coherent has set the deadline after it had deemed a revised offer from II-VI (NASDAQ: IIVI) a “Company Superior Proposal” under the terms with the sale agreement it originally signed with Lumentum this past January (see “Lumentum to buy Coherent to expand laser and photonics reach”).
The new sales agreement compels Lumentum to exchange $175.00 in cash and 1.0109 shares of Lumentum common stock for each share of Coherent common stock, a total consideration of a of $261.62 per Coherent share or $6.6 billion in total. II-VI had offered $170.00 in cash and 1.0981 shares of II-VI common stock in its most recent proposal, which equates to an enterprise value of $6.5 billion (see “Coherent board: Revised II-VI purchase proposal superior”).
Lumentum says it expects the deal to close in the second half of calendar year 2021, subject to approval by Lumentum's and Coherent's stockholders, receipt of remaining regulatory approvals (the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 has expired without incident), and other customary closing conditions. However, observers believe the bidding isn’t over yet and expect II-VI and possibly MKS Instruments to take another run at stealing away Lumentum’s prize. Significantly, Coherent says the termination fee on the agreement has not been changed from that originally specified. Coherent had rejected a pair of Lumentum proposals that had increased the termination fee in the runup to accepting II-VI’s most recent bid.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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