Emcore expands laser line-up with K2 acquisition
Compound semiconductor device and materials supplier Emcore has acquired the fabless laser developer K2 Optronics.
Emcore, which was already an investor in the Sunnyvale, CA, company, bought the outstanding stock in the firm in a deal valued at $4.8 million.
K2 Optronics specializes in directly-modulated external-cavity lasers (ECLs), which Emcore believes could be revolutionary in cable television (CATV) and fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) applications.
"We expect to see our CATV and FTTP customers insist on the performance and cost advantages that directly-modulated lasers [based on K2's ECL technology] can offer over traditional laser technology," said Hong Hou, who leads Emcore's Ortel division.
Founded in 2000, K2 Optronics had already attracted around $45 million in venture funding prior to Emcore's initial investment in the company in February 2005.
Fellow chip maker JDSU had also invested in prior funding rounds, while K2 boasted that it was the first company to mass-produce packaged ECLs through its Thailand-based contract manufacturing partner Fabrinet.
Emcore said that it expects combined sales of K2's existing products and of its own directly-modulated transmitters featuring K2's lasers to generate around $7 million this year. The Somerset, NJ, company is anticipating strong growth after that, leading to sales of $14 million in 2007.
The K2 acquisition is Emcore's latest move in a bid to increase its presence across the communications industry. In the past year the company has acquired JDSU's CATV business, the optical module supplier Phasebridge and the video broadcast company Force.
Emcore also has a potentially very lucrative contract to supply solar cells to an unspecified satellite manufacturer that could generate up to $20.6 million in revenue.
