Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ: AAOI) surged in pre-market trading on Friday as the provider of fiber-optic access network products announced that it would sell its manufacturing facilities located in China and other assets related to the transceiver business to Yuhan Optoelectronic Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. for $150 million.
AAOI expects to close the transaction next year.
Dr. Thompson Lin, Founder, President, and CEO of Applied Optoelectronics commented on the transaction, “The significant proceeds from this transaction will enable us to make strategic investments in higher margin and higher growth opportunities. Further, we believe that this transaction opens up new opportunities for customer expansion with our existing data center laser business, which has a large addressable market.”
Following the sale of Chinese assets, AOI’s business portfolio will focus on data center lasers and the company will still have its manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and Sugar Land, Texas.
