The U.S. government has mandated that Keysight Technologies divest three key business units from British firm Spirent Communications to address antitrust concerns tied to its $1.5 billion acquisition of the company.
In court filings on Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) outlined that the deal will only move forward if Keysight Technologies sells off Spirent’s high-speed ethernet testing, network security testing, and radio frequency channel emulation businesses. These units are crucial to maintaining competition in key markets where the combined companies would otherwise dominate.
According to a news statement from DoJ, the merger as originally structured would have given Keysight and Spirent 85 percent of the high-speed ethernet testing market, over 60 percent of the network security testing market, and more than 50 percent of the radio frequency channel emulation market — raising red flags over potential harm to competition and customers.
Keysight Technologies, based in Santa Rosa, California, previously announced plans to sell the targeted Spirent businesses to Viavi Solutions for up to $425 million in cash. Viavi had also attempted to acquire Spirent earlier this year but was outbid by Keysight.
In 2024, Keysight had global revenue of approximately $4.97 billion. In 2024, Spirent had global revenue of approximately $460.2 million. Neither Keysight Technologies nor Spirent has issued public statements in response to the DOJ’s filings.
The acquisition, first announced in March 2024, valued Spirent at 1.16 billion British pounds, equivalent to approximately $1.57 billion today. The deal marks a significant consolidation in the global testing and measurement industry, which plays a critical role in advancing next-generation network technologies.
Keysight Technologies earlier reported second fiscal quarter 2025 revenue of $1.31 billion, up from $1.22 billion in the same period last year. The Communications Solutions Group (CSG) posted $913 million in revenue, an increase of 9 percent driven by growth in both commercial communications and aerospace, defense, and government markets.
The Electronic Industrial Solutions Group (EISG) generated $393 million, up 5 percent, with growth in semiconductor and general electronics partially offset by declines in automotive and energy. For the third fiscal quarter of 2025, Keysight expects revenue to range between $1.305 billion and $1.325 billion.
TelecomLead.com News Desk
