FCI of Versailles, France, a manufacturer of connectors and cable assembly solutions for automotive, telecommunication, consumer, medical and industrial applications,

1. Established in 1988 by Framatome (now Areva) to diversify outside the nuclear field, and following around 20 acquisitions having itself been acquired by private investment fund Bain Capital in 2005.

2. In 2009 having reported sales of Euro 935 million ($1.3 billion) and around 12,000 employees in 30 countries, including 14 R&D centres.

Has announced the acquisition of MergeOptics of Berlin, Germany, a developer and manufacturer of optical transceivers and active optical cables (AOCs), on undisclosed terms.

Recently MergeOptics has been focusing on its 120 Gbit/s AOC and expansion into the consumer 10 Gbit/s USB cable market.

FCI said the acquisition would allow the company to leverage MergeOptics' leadership position in AOCs to address data centre and communications market applications, complementing its existing passive and active copper cables assemblies.

Pete Curwen, VP and GM of FCI - Electronics Division, said:

• "MergeOptics' leading position in active optical cables extends FCI's existing high-speed I/O portfolio of passive and active copper solutions".

• "With this complete portfolio of I/O product solutions, we will be able to provide our customers with more complete and innovative solutions to meet their needs today and in the future".