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EXFO acquires ByteSphere’s technologies to extend its service assurance offering in infrastructure performance visibility for mobile and fixed networks


EXFO announced today it has acquired the assets of ByteSphere LLC, a privately held software company in the Boston area that specializes in global IT management and network monitoring solutions.

QUEBEC CITY, CANADA, April 1, 2014 — EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO, TSX: EXF) announced today it has acquired the assets of ByteSphere LLC, a privately held software company in the Boston area that specializes in global IT management and network monitoring solutions.

This transaction extends EXFO’s capabilities in network performance management for infrastructure monitoring through highly scalable device and network element polling. ByteSphere’s solutions feature advanced patented techniques for infrastructure performance management, including network element polling and fault management. ByteSphere’s products and tools are used by some of the world’s largest tier-1 network operators and Fortune Global 500 companies.  

EXFO has acquired all the assets and intellectual property rights of ByteSphere as a complement to its BrixWorx line of service assurance solutions, creating a powerful combination of network and service performance monitoring for mobile and fixed telecommunications. The combination of these capabilities provides unprecedented, real-time correlation between network element performance metrics and probe-based service performance metrics, positioning EXFO to drive the value of this raw data into correlated and actionable events for customers through advanced analytics and visualization.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“EXFO is thrilled with the acquisition of ByteSphere’s assets as it is very synergistic with our total solutions offering in service assurance and network performance management, especially in critical areas like small cells, wireless backhaul and metro Ethernet,” said Germain Lamonde, EXFO’s Chairman, President and CEO. “ByteSphere’s leading-edge technology adds expanded network visibility to EXFO’s highly acclaimed active IP/Ethernet service assurance solutions, which will allow customers to dramatically streamline network operations and improve overall network quality.”

About EXFO

Listed on the NASDAQ and TSX stock exchanges, EXFO is among the leading providers of next-generation test and service assurance solutions for wireline and wireless network operators and equipment manufacturers in the global telecommunications industry. The company offers innovative solutions for the development, installation, management and maintenance of converged, IP fixed and mobile networks—from the core to the edge. Key technologies supported include 3G, 4G/LTE, IMS, Ethernet, OTN, FTTx, xDSL and various optical technologies accounting for more than 35% of the portable fiber-optic test market. EXFO has a staff of approximately 1600 people in 25 countries, supporting more than 2000 customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.EXFO.com and follow us on the EXFO Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical information or statements of current condition. Words such as may, will, expect, believe, anticipate, intend, could, estimate, continue, or the negative or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events and circumstances are considered forward-looking statements. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements due to various factors including macro-economic uncertainty as well as capital spending and network deployment levels in the telecommunications industry (including our ability to quickly adapt cost structures with anticipated levels of business and our ability to manage inventory levels with market demand); future economic, competitive, financial and market conditions; consolidation in the global telecommunications test and service assurance industry and increased competition among vendors; limited visibility with regards to customer orders and the timing of such orders; fluctuating exchange rates; concentration of sales; timely release and market acceptance of our new products and other upcoming products; our ability to successfully integrate our acquired and to-be-acquired businesses; our ability to successfully expand international operations; and the retention of key technical and management personnel. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments and risks, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Other risk factors that may affect our future performance and operations are detailed in our Annual Report, on Form 20-F, and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities commissions. We believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to us, but we cannot assure you that the expectations will prove to have been correct. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this document. Unless required by law or applicable regulations, we undertake no obligation to revise or update any of them to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this document.