Amphenol has completed its $10.5 billion cash acquisition of CommScope’s CCS business, leaving CommScope with Ruckus and ANS, rebranded together as Vistance Networks. ANS has been rebranded individually as Aurora Networks. The deal streamlines CommScope, and expands Amphenol’s fiber, AI, and telco infra play.
In sum – what to know:
Transaction detail – Amphenol has acquired CommScope’s CCS business, its largest unit; CommScope retains Ruckus and ANS.
Amphenol upside – Amphenol strengthens its hyperscaler, telecom, and defense plays; the deal complements its prior Andrew purchase.
CommScope impact – CommScope becomes leaner, concentrating on broadband access and campus networks, while reducing debt.
US fibre optic specialist Amphenol Corporation has completed its $10.5 billion cash acquisition of CommScope’s Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS) business. It leaves the North Carolina firm with just its Access Networks Solutions (ANS) and Ruckus Networks businesses, which will be rebranded together as Vistance Networks from January 14. Separately, its ANS segment will be rebranded as Aurora Networks.
The deal was first announced back in August, and has closed on time; it was scheduled to complete during the first half of 2026. The company has been dubbed internally as RemainCo since the Amphenol agreement in August. Ruckus Networks focuses on enterprise Wi-Fi, and campus / venue connectivity; it posted around $1.05 billion in revenues in 2024. ANS provides broadband infrastructure for service providers, and generated $360 million in 2024.
The CCS unit was CommScope’s biggest business, by a distance. It includes most of its fiber and copper cabling, connectivity, and telecom products. Adlane Fellah, analyst at Maravedis Research, wrote after the deal in August it was to contribute $3.6 billion in sales with a 26 percent EBITDA margin in 2025. CommScope said proceeds from the sale will be used to repay outstanding debt and redeem “preferred equity”, held by global investment firm Carlyle.
Fellah put this at about $7.2 billion (out of $10.5 billion). CommScope stated: “After adding modest leverage on the remaining business, the company will have significant excess cash.” This will cover shareholder dividends, valued at least $10 per share, to be delivered within 60 to 90 days. Amphenol said it expects the CCS unit to generate 2026 sales of $4.1 billion; it will be incorporated into its ‘communications solutions’ segment, it said.
Fellah at Maravedis Research reflected on a slimmed-down CommScope in August: “This divestiture represents not just a financial windfall but a strategic pivot for a company that has spent years navigating industry disruption, integration challenges, and debt pressure…. [Its] trajectory has been marked by a series of acquisitions and divestitures that have created confusion and uncertainty about its long-term direction.”
Ruckus Networks has been passed about; it was acquired for $1.5 billion in May 2016 by Brocade Communications Systems, which was in turn acquired by Broadcom for $5.9 billion in November 2016. It was then acquired from Broadcom by Arris International for $800 million in late 2017, before CommScope swooped for Arris in early 2019, in a $7.4 billion deal.
Meanwhile, ANS was sold to UK-based set-top box firm Pace in 2013 for $310 million, which was sold to Arris in 2015 for $2.1 billion – and went to CommScope with its purchase of Arris in 2019. As Jeff Baumgartner at Light Reading observes: “Amphenol is basically taking over what used to be known as CommScope before the Arris deal.” As Fellah said: “The 2019 acquisition of Arris… significantly expanded [its] portfolio but also added substantial debt.”
He went on: “Subsequent efforts to streamline operations – including the failed attempt to spin off its home networks unit and the recent sale of its CCS business – have only added to the perception of a company in constant flux. This pattern of strategic shifts has left investors and customers questioning the company’s focus and stability… The [final] sale of CCS marks a turning point for CommScope.
“The company is shedding a legacy hardware-heavy business in favour of a more focused, agile structure centred on broadband access and enterprise networking. With its balance sheet reset and a tighter strategic focus, [it] is positioning itself for a new chapter – leaner, more nimble, and with fewer distractions from legacy operations. The future will tell how the leaner version will be more focused on long-term goals rather than short-term financial diktat, to restore some of the lost confidence in the market.”
Meanwhile, the CCS acquisition has good symmetry for Amphenol, which picked up CommScope’s Andrew business in 2024 for $2.1 billion – which included its Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) and Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN) divisions. There is clear crossover, here: its old DAS unit supplies indoor cellular for enterprises, and Ruckus offers switches, controllers, Wi-Fi and CBRS access points, plus cloud software and management systems.
Both Ruckus and the OWN unit were part of CommScope’s Networking, Intelligent Cellular & Security Solutions (NICS) unit. The Andrew brand, once synonymous with telecom network componentry, has been revived under Amphenol’s stewardship. Amphenol posted a “record Q3” in December with “revenue and earnings rising sharply on surging AI data centre demand”, reported Simply Wall St.
It said at the time the pending acquisition of CommScope’s CCS unit will “significantly expand its AI, communications infrastructure, and defense exposure”. It wrote: “To own Amphenol, you need to believe its AI data centre momentum and high-end connectivity focus can offset lumpier tech spending and integration risk from aggressive dealmaking. The record Q3 results and stronger guidance reinforce AI as the key near term catalyst.”
It added that the CCS purchase “directly ties Amphenol’s AI, communications infrastructure, and defense exposure to a much larger acquisition that must be integrated while the company is already investing heavily to support AI growth.” R. Adam Norwitt, president at Amphenol, said the deal adds “significant fiber optic interconnect capabilities” for hyperscaler and telecoms networks, plus a “diverse range of industrial interconnect products” for enterprises.
CommScope will focus its efforts on innovation and growth via its remaining business, and also make investments in fiber access networks, edge networking, and campus Wi-Fi solutions – said Fellah, citing Chuck Treadway, chief executive at CommScope / Vistance Networks. Treadway stated: “CCS is positioned to do well under Amphenol… We will move forward with the same commitment to design and deliver intelligent solutions with the same level of experience and service that our customers and partners have come to expect and trust.”
