Finisar to buy Optium Corp. for $212 million

Optium stockholders will receive 6.262 Finisar shares for each Optium share they own.

At Thursday's closing price of $1.33 per Finisar share, the deal puts a $8.32 value on each Optium share. Optium had approximately 25.5 million shares outstanding as of March 11.

The acquisition price per share represents a 2.2 percent premium for Optium shareholders on Thursday's closing price of $8.14.

Optium Chief Executive Eitan Gertel will become Finisar's CEO and will join its board along with Optium board members Morgan Jones and Chris Crespi. Finisar's current CEO Jerry Rawls will retain his position as Finisar chairman.

When the deal goes through, Finisar shareholders will own approximately 65 percent of their company and Optium shareholders will own approximately 35 percent.

The acquisition is subject to the approval of both companies' stockholders. Some directors, executives and affiliates have agreed to vote in favor of the deal. These agreements apply to approximately 7 percent of Finisar's and 34 percent of Optium's outstanding shares.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Finisar makes equipment that allows high-speed connection over local area networks. Customer include Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Chalfont, Pa.-based Optium makes equipment for telecommunication networks and cable TV.

Finisar shares closed at $1.33 Thursday and fell to $1.30 in premarket trading Friday. Optium shares closed at $8.14 Thursday and rose to $8.23 in premarket trading.