HUBER+SUHNER has acquired BKtel, a developer of active and passive components for broadband networks, for approximately EURO 48 Million. The deal is subject to the approval of the German Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) and expected to close in December.
BKtel has three locations in Germany and holds majority participation in two companies in France and Japan. With 150 employees, the company generates sales of around CHF 45 million. BKtel develops, manufactures and implements active and passive components for broadband networks and has extensive expertise in fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), hybrid fiber coax (HFC) and distributed access architecture (DAA) as well as optical signal processing (optical converters, amplifiers, and fiber lasers).
BKtel was founded in 1997 as part of a management buy-out by former employees of Alcatel Kabel Deutschland. In addition to the founders, who hold the majority of BKtel, BWK Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft is also among the owners. Its headquarters are in Hückelhoven-Baal, North Rhine-Westphalia. Further sites are located in Kornwestheim near Stuttgart and Rosenheim in Bavaria. The product range includes optical transmission devices such as transmitters, amplifiers, and receivers as well as cable TV headends and radio frequency amplifiers. The company also plans, installs and commissions these systems for network operators. BKtel achieves the majority of its sales in Germany. An additional boost in this geographic core market is likely to come from the German government's plans to expand the broadband network.
BKtel Photonics works in various optical amplifier and fiber laser technologies, which are to be used both in optical transmission technology and in the future-oriented field of 3D scanners (LIDAR), for example in 3D landscape scanning or for surveying the vehicle surroundings during autonomous driving.
