3 October 2003 Santa Monica, CA Lightwave--Arroyo Optics, Inc., a manufacturer of wavelength management products for telecommunications equipment, and Lightcross, Inc., a manufacturer of integrated, silicon-based optical products for telecommunications equipment, have agreed to a merger between the companies. Under the terms of the agreement, the surviving entity will be Arroyo Optics, which will comprise technologies and products developed with over $50 million of combined R&D capital provided by private equity investors.
Lightcross CEO Robert Barron will become CEO, chairman, and president of the resulting company. Barron states, "By joining the companies, the shareholders of each company believe a unique advantage in the market is created. With broadened technology platforms, as well as a fortified commitment of financial resources from investors, the company is well positioned to expand its offering of leading products to current and prospective clients."
Hatch Graham, interim CEO of Arroyo Optics, says, "I'm delighted to have guided the introduction and deployment of Arroyo Optics' programmable optical filter products over the past six months, as well as the strategic relationship building with the company's client base. Furthermore, we're excited about the potential of the new company and the expanded product offering that can be achieved." Graham will serve on the merged company's board of directors.
The merged company will offer two product platforms to manufacturers of DWDM equipment. Both product platforms enable a reduction of network costs, enhance network flexibility, facilitate network scalability, and minimize craft sensitivity in network operations.
Jean-Louis Malinge, photonics industry executive and a consultant for the merger, states, "From my perspective, the two platforms offer a nice risk balance. The technology platforms share basically the same Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers, and within these customers' organizations, the same procurement and in some cases the same engineering groups."
Arroyo Optics' UltraFilter technology platform is the basis of a family of "all optical" filters suitable for wavelength blocking, dynamic channel equalization (DCE), reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexing (ROADM), and wavelength routing applications.
Lightcross develops and produces silicon-based opto-electonic integrated circuits and modules. The company has developed what it calls "the fastest Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) Arrays available," providing sub-microsecond response times, low insertion loss, and low PDL over a broad attenuation range.