Spirent
 | |
| Public limited company | |
| Traded as | LSE: SPT, OTC Pink: SPMYY |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1936 |
| Headquarters |
Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom (Corporate) San Jose, California, United States (Operational) |
Key people |
Alex Walker (Chairman of the board) Eric Hutchinson (CEO) Rachel Whiting (CFO) |
| Products | Network diagnostics |
| Revenue |
 US$477.1 million (2015)[1] |
 US$10.1 million (2015)[1] | |
| Profit |
US$13.5 million (2015)[1] |
| Total assets |
US$592.0 million (2015)[1] |
Number of employees | 1,700 (2015)[2] |
| Website | www.spirent.com |
Spirent Communications plc is a multinational telecommunications testing company headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
History
The company was founded by Jack Bowthorpe in 1936 as Goodliffe Electric Supplies. In 1949 it changed its name to Bowthorpe. It acquired Optima Electronics in 1987 and disposed of its defence businesses in 1990. The company's electronics business grew rapidly during the dot-com boom of the 1990s, with the 1997 purchase of businesses such as Adtech, a digital test equipment concern based in Hawaii,[3] and the company was a member of the FTSE 100 index from time to time. It disposed of its automotive industry businesses in 1999, the same year that it bought Netcom Systems, a US telecoms testing business which makes network equipment testers,[4] and DLS, a Canadian telecoms testing business.[5] In 2000 it also bought Hekimian, a major Operations Support Systems business,[6] Zarak Systems, another communications software business[7] and Net-Hopper, an access systems specialist.[8]
In 2000 it changed its name to Spirent. The name is derived from the words "inspired innovation."
It acquired Caw Networks, a Santa Clara company which makes network performance testing appliances including Avalanche, in 2002,[9] Scientific Software Engineering, a United States-based developer of software including Landslide for testing the performance and functionality of wireless network infrastructure, in 2006,[10] Imperfect Networks, a IDS/IPS testing company, in 2006,[11] and Fanfare Software, a United States-based developer of the iTest automation software, in 2011.[12]
It went on to buy Mu Dynamics, a Sunnyvale company which makes cloud and app testing products such as Blitz,[13] and Metrico Wireless, the global leader in mobile device performance analytics for wireless service providers, OEMs and corporate enterprises based in Frederick, Maryland, in 2012.[14]
In July 2014, Spirent acquired Radvision's Technology Business Unit from Avaya. Radvision a company based in Tel Aviv, Israel, offers development and test suites for voice and Vvideo over IP communications.[15]
In September 2014, Spirent announced that it acquired Mobilethink A/S and its wholly owned subsidiary, Tweakker ApS, a provider of mobile device management, device analytics and intelligence solutions for mobile operators.[16]
Operations
Spirent Communications PLC is a communications and network testing company. Spirent mainly consists of the former Consultronics (later DLS Testworks) (of Ottawa, Ontario), Netcom Systems (of Chatsworth, California and later Calabasas, California), Adtech (of Honolulu, Hawaii), Zarak Systems (of Sunnyvale, California), Caw Networks (of San Jose, California), Hekimian (of Rockville, Maryland), Telecom Analysis Systems (of Eatontown, New Jersey) in 1995, Global Simulation Systems (of Paignton, Devon) in 1997, DLS (of Ottawa, Ontario) in 1998 and a number of other small network test equipment providers that it has acquired such as Imperfect Networks (of Burlington, Massachusetts).
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Full Year Results For 2015" (PDF). Spirent. February 25, 2015.
- ↑ "Factsheet" (PDF). Spirent. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
- ↑ UK Business Park
- ↑ Bowthorpe ups test role with US buy Electronics Times, 21 June 1999
- ↑ Bowthorpe buys DLS for $11.1m Electronics Times, 5 July 1999
- ↑ Spirent buys Hekimian Company Business and Marketing, January 2001
- ↑ Spirent Acquires Zarak Systems Light Reading, 11 September 2000
- ↑ Spirent buy is optics boost - Net-Hopper Systems Electronics Times, 23 October 2000
- ↑ Caw Networks to be acquired by Spirent
- ↑ Spirent Acquires 3G Player - Scientific Software 3G, 10 July 2006
- ↑ Spirent Communications Plc announces Acquisition of Imperfect Networks, Inc. MarketWire, 10 August 2006
- ↑ Spirent gets into automation game by acquiring Fanfare Fierce Telecom, 15 February 2011
- ↑ Apps and cloud testing specialist Mu Dynamics acquired by Spirent in $40M deal TNW, 20 April 2012
- ↑ Spirent to buy Metrico Wireless for $52m Marketwatch, 6 September 2012
- ↑ Spirent Agrees to Acquire Radvision's Technology Business Unit, Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, July 2, 2014
- ↑ "Spirent swoops for Danish Group in $20m deal". Insider Media. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
