POET Technologies acquires Chinese photonics firm SPX in $6.5m deal

January 02, 2025 10:59 AM

POET Technologies, which designs and develops photonic hardware for data centres, AI and telecom workloads, has completed its acquisition of Chinese photonics firm Super Photonics Integrated Circuit Xiamen Co (SPX).

POET snapped up SPX which it previously operated as a joint venture alongside Quanzhou San'an Optical Communication Technology Co. (Sanan).

The deal will see SPX rebranded as a POET subsidiary, with plans to potentially merge it with POET's wholly-owned foreign enterprise, POET Optoelectronics Shenzhen Co.

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SPX will continue to assemble POET’s optical engines in sites leased from Sanan until it finds a new location from which the new subsidiary can operate.

The acquisition was completed following an equity transfer agreement dated December 31, 2024. POET acquired Sanan's 24.8% equity position for US$6.5 million, which will be spread over five years from October 31, 2025.

Dr. Suresh Venkatesan, CEO and chair of POET, said: “We are delighted to have concluded the acquisition of the equity held by Sanan and the equipment formerly leased to SPX by Sanan in a manner that has maintained our good relationship.

“We can now present one face to our customers in China, exercise full control over company operations, benefit from a consolidation of SPX financial results with POET, and fully implement our ‘China Plus One' strategy.”

POET’s photonic hardware uses light to process and transmit data at far faster speeds and lower latency than traditional semiconductors, which use electrons. Photonics is still an emerging area but identified by Capacity and Datacloud as a key digital infrastructure trend for 2025.

POET’s Optical Interposers enable the integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single chip, providing high-speed optical engines and optical modules for AI clusters and hyperscale data centres.

The Toronto, Canada-based firm has also designed and produced light source products for chip-to-chip data communication within and between AI servers, enabling faster data transfer rates, reduced latency, and improved energy efficiency in high-performance computing environments.

Its SPX acquisition adds to its recent agreement with GMSB to manufacture its optical engines in Penang, Malaysia.