Jio Platforms, owned by Reliance Industries (RIL), will buy communications equipment maker Mimosa Networks for $60 million to bolster its expanding 5G and broadband services.
The deal is between Radisys, a unit of Jio Platforms, and US-based Airspan Networks Holdings, which owns Mimosa. Airspan acquired Mimosa in 2018 to target cost effective fixed wireless access network connections.
Mimosa has a portfolio of point-to-point and point-to-multi-point products based on WiFi 5 and the newer WiFi 6E technologies, as well as related accessories. Mimosa’s solutions have use cases in the backhaul requirements for 5G and FTTX/ FWA rollouts. Jio has been a major customer of Mimosa.
The conglomerate via Jio, India’s leading telecom service provider, is ramping up 5G and broadband services across the country after snapping up airwaves worth $11 billion in a 5G spectrum auction last year.
Reliance Jio Infocomm USA, a unit of Jio, is a shareholder in Airspan and has a seat on its board.
The transaction is subject to certain regulatory and other customary closing conditions, as well as approval by Airspan’s senior lender and is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2023.
Mimosa’s product development, manufacturing, and sales teams of 56 employees will continue with Mimosa following the acquisition by Radisys. Airspan maintains a reseller channel for specific joint 4G/5G and FWA projects and will continue marketing Mimosa products to some of its customers following the acquisition.
Mathew Oommen, President of Jio said: “Our collaboration with Airspan has resulted in groundbreaking architectures for high-speed connectivity for both the end user and for backhaul applications. Acquisition of Mimosa will accelerate Jio’s innovation and leadership in the production of telecom network products.”
