ADTRAN, Germany’s ADVA to merge in a $931 million deal to offer end-to-end fiber networking solutions

ADTRAN Monday said it will merge with Germany’s ADVA Optical Networking in a deal valued €789 million or around $931 million to create a combined company that will offer end-to-end fiber networking solutions to communication service providers (CSPs), enterprises, and government customers worldwide.

While ADTRAN develops fiber access, fiber extension, and subscriber connectivity solutions ADVA offers metro wavelength division multiplexing, data center interconnect, business ethernet, and network synchronization solutions.

“We are in the early stages of an unprecedented investment cycle in fiber connectivity, especially in the U.S. and Europe, fueled by the demand for last-mile fiber access and middle-mile transport to provide high-speed connectivity to homes, businesses and future 5G infrastructure,” said ADTRAN Chairman and CEO Thomas Stanton. “By joining forces, our combined firm’s portfolio will better position us to capitalize on this highly compelling global opportunity”.

The combined company will be known as ADTRAN Holdings Inc. Its global headquarters will be situated in Huntsville, Alabama while its European headquarters will be located in Munich, Germany.

ADTRAN Chairman and CEO Tom Stanton will serve in the same capacity in the merged entity, following the close of the transaction whereas ADVA’s CEO Brian Protiva will transition into the role of Executive Vice Chairman, as per a release.

Furthermore, ADTRAN’s CFO, Mike Foliano, will remain in his current role and ADVA’s CTO, Christoph Glingener, will serve in the same capacity for the combined entity.

The combined company will be dual-listed on the NASDAQ and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

“Our shared vision and passion for innovative networking solutions will benefit our customers through an enhanced value proposition, including a fully integrated end-to-end architecture for enterprise, access and metro core markets,” said ADVA CEO Brian Protiva.

The combined business is expected to generate about $1.2 billion in combined revenue and more than $50 million in annual run-rate cost synergies, the release added.

The companies expect the transaction to close during the second or third quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals.