CommScope

CommScope Holding Company, Inc.
Public
Traded as
Industry Telecommunication
Founded 1976 (1976)
Founder Frank M. Drendel
Headquarters Hickory, North Carolina, United States
Key people
  • Frank M. Drendel
  • (Chairman of the Board)
  • Marvin S. Edwards, Jr.
  • (President & CEO)
  • Alexander W. Pease
  • (Executive VP & CFO)
  • Robert W. Granow
  • (Senior VP, Controller, & CAO)
Brands KRONE, AMP NetConnect, SYSTIMAX, Uniprise
Revenue Decrease US$ 4.56 billion (2017)
Decrease US$ 477.61 million (2017)
Decrease US$ 193.76 million (2017)
Total assets Decrease US$ 7.04 billion (2017)
Total equity Increase US$ 1.65 billion (2017)
Number of employees
 ~20,000 (2017)
Website CommScope.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2]
CommScope Corporate Headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina

CommScope Inc., which opened in 1976, is a multi-national network infrastructure provider company based in Hickory, North Carolina, United States. CommScope is a 1997 spin-off of General Instrument and has over 20,000 employees worldwide, with customers in over 130 countries.[2]

CommScope manufactures SYSTIMAX and Uniprise brands of Enterprise infrastructure of copper Unshielded Twisted Pair cabling, connector panels, jacks and fiber optic cabling, connector panels, racking and metals. CommScope also manufactures environmentally secure cabinets for FTTN and DSL applications.

History

In 1975, CommScope was a product line of Superior Continental Cable. 29-year-old Frank Drendel headed a team charged with selling the failing product line. Frank Drendel and Jearld Leonhardt founded CommScope in August 1976 after raising $5.1 million to purchase the CommScope product line.[3] Two years later, CommScope and Valtech merged under the Valtech name. In 1979, Valtech donated fiber optics line and equipment to link the U.S. House of Representatives to the C-SPAN studios, enabling live broadcasting of U.S. Congressional proceedings for the first time.

Continuing in the 1980s, Valtech sold to M/A-COM, Inc. and CommScope became part of the Cable Home Group for M/A-COM. In 1983, CommScope formed the Network Cable division for the local area network, data communications, television-receive only and specialized wire markets. In 1986, M/A-COM, Inc. sells, the Cable Home Group to General Instrument Corporation. CommScope became a division of General Instrument.

In 1990, CommScope opened a new manufacturing facility in Claremont, North Carolina to answer the increased demand for unshielded twisted pair (copper telephone wiring), television receive-only cables (used for consumer satellite reception) and personal computer cables.

In 1997, General Instrument split into three independent, publicly traded companies, one of which was CommScope. In July 1997, Frank Drendel rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to announce CommScope going public.

In 2000, CommScope opened its new global headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina. In 2004, CommScope acquired Avaya's Connectivity Solutions business and inherited the SYSTIMAX brand, a company perhaps best known for their enterprise cabling systems. Avaya’s Carrier Solutions – which offered products designed for switching and transmission applications in telephone central offices and secure environmental enclosures—also became a part of CommScope. This acquisition doubled the size of CommScope. In 2007, CommScope acquired the global wireless infrastructure provider Andrew Corporation. Through its new Andrew brand, CommScope became a global leader in radio frequency subsystem solutions for wireless networks and again doubled CommScope’s size. In 2011, the Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager, acquired CommScope. This acquisition makes CommScope privately owned by the Carlyle Group and removed from the New York Stock Exchange. This acquisition also changed the executive structure at CommScope. Eddie Edwards was appointed president and chief executive officer, succeeding Frank Drendel, who served as CommScope’s CEO since the company’s founding in 1976. Drendel continued as the chairman of the board.

In October 25, 2015, CommScope celebrated its initial public offering as the NASDAQ. In 2015, CommScope acquired TE Connectivity’s Broadband Network Solutions (BNS) division.

Also in 2015, CommScope acquired Airvana, a privately held company that specialized in small cell solutions for wireless networks. In November 2016, the Carlyle Group announced the sale of its remaining stock.

In the news

On October 25, 2010, The Carlyle Group announced it would pay $31.50 a share, or about $2.98 billion, to take CommScope private.[4]

In July 2011, CommScope received the 2010 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award from Technology Marketing Corporation for its product, Wired For Wireless.[5]

On August 2, 2013, CommScope filed with the SEC to raise up to $750 million in an initial public offering. The initial public offering and first public trading took place on October 25, 2013 at NASDAQ.[6]

On May 16, 2017, CommScope introduced a High Speed Migration platform.[7]

Acquisitions

In 2004 the company acquired Avaya's Connectivity Solutions business. The Avaya business acquisition included the legacy intellectual property and patents from Western Electric, AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Avaya.

In June 2007, CommScope acquired Andrew Corporation for $2.6 billion. Andrew's products included antennas, cables, amplifiers, repeaters, transceivers, as well as software and training for the broadband and cellular industries.[8]

In January 2015, CommScope agreed to purchase a unit of TE Connectivity for $3 billion. The transaction closed August 28, 2015.[9]

In October 2015, CommScope acquired Airvana,[10] a manufacturer of small cells and femtocells.

Board of directors

  • Marvin (Eddie) S. Edwards, Jr. – CommScope’s President and Chief Executive Officer
  • Alexander W. Pease - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
  • Robert W. Granow - Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer
  • Frank M. Drendel – CommScope’s Founder and Chairman of the Board
  • Austin A. Adams - Audit Committee
  • Stephen (Steve) C. Gray - Compensation Committee
  • L. William (Bill) Krause - Compensation and Nominating Committee
  • Joanne M. Maguire - Chair of the Nominating Committee
  • Thomas J. Manning - Audit Committee
  • Claudius (Bud) E. Watts IV - Chair of the Compensation and Nominating Committees
  • Timothy T. Yates - Chairman of Audit Committee[11]

Management Team

  • Marvin (Eddie) S. Edwards - President and Chief Executive Officer
  • Randall W. Crenshaw - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
  • Mark A. Olsen - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
  • Peter U. Karlsson - Senior Vice President of Global Sales
  • Frank (Burk) B. Wyatt, II - Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
  • Phillip M. Armstrong, Jr. - Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance
  • Robert W. Granow - Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer
  • Robyn T. Mingle - Senior Vice President of Human Resources
  • Suzan M. Campbell - Senior Vice President of Tax
  • Bennett Cardwell - Senior Vice President, leads the CommScope Mobility Solutions Business
  • Michael Cross - Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
  • Morgan Kurk - Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
  • Jaxon D. Lang - Senior Vice President, leads the CommScope Connectivity Solutions Business
  • Fiona Nolan - Senior Vice President of Global Marketing
  • Christopher A. Story - Senior Vice President of Global Operations
  • Wendy Taylor - Vice President of Corporate Audit and Advisory[11]

References

  1. ↑ "CommScope Management Team". CommScope Holding Company, Inc. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "US SEC: Form 10-K CommScope Holding Company, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ CommScope (2016-08-03), CommScope History Video, retrieved 2017-06-19
  4. ↑ "CommScope in talks with Carlyle on $2.98B buyout". News & Record. Associated Press. 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  5. ↑ "CommScope Receives 2010 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award | EON: Enhanced Online News". eon.businesswire.com. 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "CommScope Marks IPO, First Trading at NASDAQ Ceremony". www.commscope.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  7. ↑ "The Need for Speed". www.commscope.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  8. ↑ "CommScope to Acquire Andrew for $2.6 Billion". www.commscope.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  9. ↑ "CommScope Closes TE Connectivity Unit for $3 Billion". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  10. ↑ Goldstein, Phil (8 September 2015). "CommScope nabs small cell vendor Airvana with an eye on C-RAN deployments". Fierce Wireless. FierceMarkets. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Management Team". www.commscope.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
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