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US-based Keysight Technologies has out bid rival Viavi Solutions on the purchase of Spirent Communications, offering £1.16 billion for the company this week 

Earlier this month, US technology company Viavi Solutions made a £1 billion takeover bid for UK-based telecoms testing group Spirent Communications.  

At the time, Viavi CEO Oleg Khaykin said that the deal would “deliver enhanced product solutions and applications, accelerate growth in new markets and strengthen innovation through expanded engineering and design capabilities”. 

Now, however, facing a higher offer from Keysight, Spirent has withdrawn its non-binding agreement with Viavi. 

“Following my discussions with the Keysight management team, I am excited about the broader reach and expanded long-term prospects for Spirent arising from the combination with Keysight,” Spirent CEO Eric Updyke said in a statement to Reuters. 

Spirent is a leading provider of automated testing for networks, with a portfolio that includes 5G, cloud, and autonomous vehicle services. 

In a statement on the London Stock Exchange, Spirent directors said that “combining with the Keysight Group will allow the business to better serve customer needs, with increased resources and a broader product offering.”  

“The Spirent Directors also consider that the Acquisition provides an exciting opportunity to better deal with the complexity customers are seeing in today’s world with the Combined Group’s broader capabilities, operational and financial power, and investment in research and development,” the statement continued. 

“Our superior Offer recognizes the value of Spirent’s achievements to-date, and the exciting prospects of the combination of our complementary product portfolios to provide end-to-end solutions for customers across their lifecycle needs,” said Satish Dhanasekaran, President & Chief Executive Officer of Keysight in a press release. 

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