Prominent telecommunications test and measurement (T&M) products manufacturer Anritsu Corp., Kanagawa, Japan, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of network monitoring systems and field communications test products maker NetTest A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark, from its parent firm, investment company Axcel, also of Copenhagen, and the management of NetTest.

NetTest has 480 employees and additional R&D facilities in the US, France and Italy. In 2004 it had revenues of US$94-million from sales in more than 70 countries.

Anritsu says NetTest's wireless network monitoring products, which have a 28% global market share, enable service providers to optimize their network efficiency and service quality as well as operational efficiency and profitably.

NetTest products address next generation IP networks and their convergence, including UMTS/3G mobile and VoIP technologies, as well as current networks worldwide. The firm also provides high-level field products that address broadband access networks expanding rapidly in many major metropolitan areas.

Anritsu says it sees synergies in the technologies being acquired which will enable the faster development of new innovative products for customers when coupled with its broad technology base.

Combined, the firms broadly cover both equipment manufacturers and network operators. In addition to a strong US and Western European presence, NetTest has developed business in rapidly growing economies such as Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East, and South America.

Anritsu can strongly support NetTest's business in Japan and other parts of the Asia Pacific region.

"The acquisition of NetTest will accelerate Anritsu's vision to be a global market leader in test and measurement," Anritsu President Hiromichi Toda says. "The addition of NetTest will expand Anritsu's business domain into the high growth markets for network performance monitoring and service assurance."

NetTest has been owned by Axcel and management since the end of 2002 when it was acquired from GN Great Nordic. Since then, it has repositioned itself from an all-optical to a network performance strategy, and has developed and launched a broad range of new products and won several new major telecom operator accounts.

"We are pleased to see NetTest becoming an important cornerstone for growth and geographical expansion of a major recognized telecommunication T&M company," Kaj Juul-Pedersen, NetTest chairman, and Allan Vestergaard, CEO and president, say. "The acquisition by Anritsu gives NetTest a financially strong complimentary owner which can accelerate the worldwide distribution of our products and expand product developments that NetTest has undertaken in the last years."

Christian Frigast, managing partner at Axcel comments: "Having completed successfully the restructuring and repositioning of NetTest and accelerated growth through significant product development, we believe it is now time to for a major industrial owner with strong technology competencies and a global presence to further develop NetTest. We see Anritsu as such an ideal owner. We strongly believe that the employees and customers of NetTest will appreciate the merits of the combined company"