MRV Communications Inc. is selling off two European subsidiaries and placed a third on the market as part of a look at strategic alternatives for the company. The Chatsworth-based company will put more focus on its optical communications systems business, a supplier to the growing optical transport and carrier Ethernet markets. The optical communications unit — which provides hardware to access, transport and manage fixed line, cable and mobile communications — stands to benefit as telecommunication giants race to revamp their networks to support data hungry customers wielding smartphones. The network integration businesses have not fared as well, leading MRV to sell off holdings in Europe. MRV is seeking shareholder approval for the sale of Interdata, a French subsidiary, and Alcadon-MRV AB, a Swedish subsidiary. Investment bank Headwaters BD LLC has been hired to handle the sale of Tecnonet S.p.A, a subsidiary based in Italy. As the company reviewed its operations, the real value was determined to be in the optical communications unit, said CEO Barry Gorsun. “We are well positioned in the optical transport and carrier Ethernet markets and specifically in the rapidly growing mobile backhaul data center and cloud computing verticals,” Gorsun said in a prepared statement. “We believe that we could best serve our stockholders and customers by leveraging these strengths to deliver innovative new products to the high growth segments of our markets.” MRV also released its second quarter earnings that showed a widening of its net loss when compared to a year ago. The company reported a loss of $2.1 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, on revenue of $55 million for the quarter ending June 30. For the same period in 2011, the company reported a net loss of $1.9 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, on revenue of $59.2 million. Mark R. Madler
