Technetix and Lindsay Broadband overlap in some HFC product areas, but the acquisition will also help Technetix expand its mobile and powering portfolio, Technetix CEO Paul Broadhurst says.
UK-based Technetix has snapped up Canada's Lindsay Broadband in a deal that will help Technetix expand its presence in both North and South America and add some new mobile and powering products and technologies to its portfolio.
Technetix and Lindsay Broadband have some overlapping products in the hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) sector, but the combo of erstwhile cable network tech competitors does provide Technetix with a lift in certain geographies and product lines, according to Technetix CEO Paul Broadhurst.
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The deal "expands our footprints in the Americas region," Broadhurst said. Prior to the deal, about 70% of Technetix's business was in Europe and 20% in the Americas, along with a smaller presence in Asia. Post-deal, the sales mix at Technetix will be roughly the same in the Americas and Europe, he estimates.
Lindsay Broadband will also "fill a few gaps" with tier 1 service providers in the Americas, with Brazil's Claro Brasil among those on Lindsay Broadband's customer list in the region, Broadhurst said. Among other announced examples, Canada's Cogeco teamed up with Lindsay Broadband and Accelleran in 2020 to test fixed wireless access using integrated DOCSIS cable modems and LTE small cells.
The acquisition "really underlines our commitment to the Americas ... and accelerates our expansion in North America," Broadhurst said. "We're virtually debt-free, so we have a lot of resources to expand the company, and our intention is to invest in expanding Lindsay."
Across the pond, Lindsay Broadband has a small presence in Europe. "We're already exploring some interesting opportunities in Europe with almost off-the-shelf products," Broadhurst said.
Financial terms were not announced, though Broadhurst said the acquisition is an accretive one for Technetix. About 30 Lindsay Broadband employees are joining Technetix, which had about 200 employees prior to the deal. David Atman is staying on as president of the Lindsay unit.
Technetix will also add Lindsay's Canadian headquarters site in Peterborough, which houses functions such as sales, R&D and distribution and manufacturing, complementing Technetix's existing Americas presence in Denver, Colorado, and Mexico City, Mexico.
"It's not cost-cutting," Broadhurst said of the deal. "We need the talent on all sides."
Cable and wireless
Some of that talent and product, including a lineup of 1.2GHz and 1.8GHz amplifiers and passives, will go toward the evolution and upgrade of HFC networks, including upstream enhancements for DOCSIS 3.1 and future DOCSIS 4.0 networks and a general shift toward a distributed access architecture (DAA).
On the mobile side, Technetix is already heavily into backhaul, but will add Lindsay's lineup of mini basestations.
Cable operators are generally approaching mobile under the MVNO model, but are looking to offload wireless traffic in heavy-use areas, particularly in the home, onto their own networks to boost the profitability of the mobile product.
"We see our place being on the edge of the network in terms of interfacing with the backbone, be it fixed or mobile," Broadhurst said.
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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading
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