Oplink finally seals OCP acquisition
Optical Communication Products (OCP) once again looks set to come under the wing of Oplink Communications, thanks to an improved cash offer for outstanding OCP stock.
Oplink has now closed its acquisition of Furukawa Electric s 58.1 percent stake in OCP, but the deal had looked to be heading for trouble after the remaining OCP shareholders issued a shareholder rights plan - also known as a "poison pill" in financial circles.
In its original plan, Oplink had offered to buy out the non-Furukawa OCP stock for only $1.50 per share.
Now, the special committee of OCP's board of directors and Oplink are said to have reached an "agreement in principle", under which Oplink would pay OCP shareholders $1.65 in cash for each share in the remaining OCP stock.
The final value of the deal will therefore be around $179 million, and is expected to close be the end of the third calendar quarter of 2007.
Just one final hurdle remains - the merger agreement requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the outstanding OCP shares not yet acquired by Oplink.
Last year, OCP, which specializes in compound semiconductor-based products for applications in optical communications, acquired the Taiwanese chip maker Gigacomm (see related story).
