Ciena has announced its acquisition of Benu Networks, plus a definitive agreement to snap up Tibit Communications.
The acquisitions will underpin Ciena's push to capitalize on the growing fiber broadband market, expanding its solutions offering in this sector.
“The acquisitions of Tibit Communications and Benu Networks will extend our ability to support customers’ next-generation metro and Edge strategies as service providers globally accelerate investments to modernize their networks and improve connectivity at the network Edge,” said Scott McFeely, Senior Vice President, Global Products and Services, Ciena.
Details of the transaction for the acquisition of Burlington-based Benu weren't disclosed by Ciena but closed during Ciena's fiscal first quarter for 2023.
Meanwhile, Ciena says it expects the acquisition of Tibit to close during the same quarter, with the transaction confirmed to be approximately $210 million. Ciena has been an investor in Tibit since 2016 and is currently the largest shareholder in the business.
Ciena will acquire the remaining shares of Tibit that it doesn't already own, as part of a cash-free, debt-free transaction, with the merger consideration to be paid in cash.
Tibit specializes in combining PON-specific hardware and OS into a micro pluggable transceiver that can be easily integrated into a carrier-grade Ethernet switch. These rapid PON deployments can be carried out in any environment.
For Ciena, the acquisition will help the company to build traction within this market, specifically with more vertically integrated, next-generation PON solutions that support residential, enterprise, and mobility use cases, including 10G XGS-PON with development paths to deliver 25G and higher PON in the future.
As for Benu, the company specializes in developing cloud-native software solutions, notably a virtual Broadband Network Gateway ((v)BNG), with the service to be added to Ciena's broadband access solutions portfolio.
“Tibit’s high-speed PON technologies and Benu’s subscriber management products, combined with Ciena’s current access and Edge portfolio, will enable us to offer broader, more complete, and fully integrated broadband access solutions that combine routing, subscriber management, and PON features and functionality," added McFeely.
