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Keysight Technologies to Pay $1.6 Billion for Ixia

The acquisition of data technology company Ixia by Keysight Technologies Inc. will bring telecommunications network testing capabilities and security applications to the combined company. Keysight, in Santa Rosa, is buying Ixia, based in Calabasas, in a transaction valued at $1.6 billion, or just about equal to Ixia’s market cap. Ixia shareholders will receive $19.65 per share in cash in the deal, which is expected to close no later than the end of October. Ixia Chief Executive Bethany Mayer said she was confident that Keysight was the ideal partner to accelerate growth initiatives and allow the company to continue to build on its 20 years of success. “We believe that together, Ixia and Keysight have a tremendous opportunity to further strengthen our market-leading positions and create unprecedented value for our customers, partners, employees and shareholders,” Mayer said in a prepared statement. Ixia’s basic business is manufacturing software and hardware that tests telecommunications equipment and networks. The testing products can simulate real-world conditions and search for flaws. Ixia products are complementary to what Keysight offers. For instance, Ixia tests mobile telecommunication networks while Keysight products test mobile devices. Keysight was spun off in 2014 from Agilent Technologies Inc., itself a spinoff of Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1999. Keysight was Agilent’s electronic test and measurement business to the electronics and wireless communications industries. Matthew Robison, an analyst with the San Francisco office of Wunderlich Securities, said the transaction was not a huge surprise and makes a lot of sense fundamentally. Keysight was the company that came up in discussions with investors about similar types of businesses to Ixia. “The Hewlett Packard heritage and an absence of product overlap bodes well for all the parties involved,” Robison said. “In the context of reconstituting its old business, this a predictable outcome.” Word of Ixia putting itself on the market first came in early December when Reuters reported the company was working with an investment bank in pursuit of a sale. Since Dec. 1, Ixia’s shares have gained 44 percent. The stock closed on Feb. 1 at $19.45. In the third quarter, the most recent earning results available, Ixia reported adjusted net income of $15.2 million (18 cents a share) on revenue of $124 million, compared with adjusted net income of $12.3 million (15 cents) in the same period a year earlier.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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