The Foreign Investment Review Board won’t seek to block a move by US firm Casa Systems to acquire NetComm Wireless.
Casa Systems in February announced it was seeking to pick up the ASX-listed networking equipment manufacturer, making a $161 million all-cash offer for NetComm.
The buyout, which has the unanimous backing of NetComm’s board, is still subject to shareholder approval at a meeting in June and court sign-off.
NetComm has said that Casa Systems was particularly impressed by the Australian company’s 5G fixed wireless self-install technology.
“The addition of our world-leading 5G customer premises equipment technologies to their platform will enable a full end-to-end solution for operators looking to deploy 5G fixed wireless services,” NetComm’s chief technology officer and interim CEO, Steve Collins, said in February when the Casa offer was announced.
“NetComm represents a strong strategic fit for Casa Systems,” Casa Systems chairperson and CEO, Jerry Guo, said at the time.
“NetComm is an innovative and agile organisation that has led the global development of fixed wireless and distribution point broadband solutions. We believe that this transaction will create a global leader in the rapidly growing broadband enablement space for service providers across all access technologies.”
The two companies have “complementary product portfolios” and the acquisition will strengthen Casa’s “ability to meet the growing demand for increased bandwidth by communications service providers around the world”.
“Moreover, it positions the combined company with a broad, highly competitive product portfolio for new 4G architectures and 5G wireless,” Guo said.
NetComm supplies equipment for the Australian National Broadband Network, including network termination devices used for fixed wireless premises and distribution point units used for fibre to the curb (FTTC).