New name for JDSU’s division in Santa Rosa

JDSU’s Santa Rosa division is about to be re-branded as Viavi Solutions.

The division, which traces its roots back more than six decades to Optical Coating Laboratory Inc., will take on the new name as part of a company split planned to completed by Sept. 30.

Neither of the companies that result from the split will keep the JDSU name, the company announced last week after filing forms for the two new independent companies.

Under those plans, one company will be named Viavi Solutions and will include the company’s “network enablement” and “service enablement” businesses that offer equipment and support to the communications industry.

It also will include the Santa Rosa-based optical security and performance products business, which makes such diverse products as anti-counterfeiting materials, thin-film optical products and 3-D sensing devices. The local division employs about 430 workers and contractors.

JDSU President and CEO Tom Waechter will lead Viavi Solutions.

The second company will be named Lumentum Holdings and will include the business segments for communications and commercial optical products. It will provide optical components and subsystems for the telecommunications market and high-performance lasers for a variety of applications.

Those business segments currently are led by Alan Lowe, who will become Lumentum’s first chief executive officer.

JDSU acquired its Santa Rosa unit in 1999 when it purchased Optical Coating, or OCLI, for $6.2 billion in stock. The Santa Rosa company was founded in 1948 by Rolf Illsley and employed more than 1,200 people in Sonoma County at the time of the acquisition.

In September, JDSU announced plans to split operations into two distinct, focused companies, making it easier for investors to value their businesses.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com.

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Editor’s Note: This story has been altered to reflect the following correction. We originally stated that OCLI was acquired for $2.8 billion in stock. That was the initial estimate, but the company stock soared and JDSU ended up giving stock worth $6.2 billion.