“I am delighted that we were able to quickly and successfully complete the acquisition of Infinera. This transaction will significantly improve our scale and profitability in optical networks, and allows us to accelerate the pace of innovation to meet the requirements of the AI era. The acquisition of Infinera will accelerate our growth strategy in data centers and strengthen our presence both in North America and with webscale customers,” commented Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia.
“The speed with which the transaction was approved is very positive for Nokia, as is the strong support the deal has received from customers. By welcoming our new colleagues and the talent and experience they bring, we are creating a new organization that will set the pace for innovation, offering capabilities across a broad range of optical networking technologies, backed by cutting-edge research from Nokia Bell Labs. Innovation benefits from scale, and the expansion this acquisition provides means we can deliver more to customers, faster,” commented Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure at Nokia.
The Infinera team will join Nokia's Optical Networks business, led by its Vice President and General Manager, James Watt. Meanwhile, Infinera's Managing Director, David Heard, will join Nokia's Network Infrastructure business group as Director of Strategic Growth for Network Infrastructure. In this role, he will help establish and oversee the implementation of the business group's growth plans, including specific strategies for customer segments, product mix and markets, and go-to-market approach across the business group.
“I am delighted to welcome David to Nokia ya Network Infrastructure. His extensive experience in technology and in implementing business strategies will play a key role in helping our group of businesses capitalize on market opportunities and achieve our ambitions across all our markets and business areas,” Guillén added.
“From strong growth in the web space to service provider successes spanning metropolitan, long-haul, and submarine networks, the Infinera team’s proven track record is a perfect complement to Nokia’s renowned leadership and innovation in optical networks. I’m excited about the vast opportunities this new chapter opens up and what it means for Nokia and its Network Infrastructure business, and delighted to join the team to help accelerate its growth across all customer segments worldwide,” said Heard.
Meeting the Challenges of the AI Era:
Data centers are at a turning point, as AI and the cloud place enormous new demands on them. Overcoming these challenges requires new ways of thinking about data center technology that emphasize critical aspects of networking technology.
Nokia's offerings across its network infrastructure portfolio apply the same mission-critical standards to customers in all sectors, from service providers to web scalers and organizations across a wide range of industries. By harnessing the power of innovation for reliability, security, and sustainability, as well as capacity, flexibility, and manageability, Nokia is uniquely positioned to deliver value to data center builders and users, including within data centers for server-to-server connections, to meet the growing demands of new AI workloads.
The €200 million synergy target is reaffirmed.
On June 28, 2024, Nokia and Infinera announced that the companies had signed a definitive agreement under which Nokia would acquire Infinera for US$6.65 per share, with shareholders able to choose between cash, Nokia shares, or a combination of both, and a pro-rata mechanism limiting the issuance of Nokia shares to approximately 30% of the total consideration paid to Infinera shareholders. All Nokia shares will be issued to Infinera shareholders in the form of American Depositary Shares.
