LUMINENT FILES INTENT TO GO PUBLIC RAISING $207 MILLION IS GOAL.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH - Luminent Inc., a company spun off from MRV Communications in April, filed for an initial public offering Wednesday to raise up to $207 million.

Luminent will join a batch of new Internet infrastructure component makers gone public, including Moorpark's Accelerated Networks, which went public in June. Luminent counts among its competitors giants like IBM, Lucent and Agilent Technologies.

MRV, also based in Chatsworth, said Credit Suisse First Boston would lead the underwriting group with CIBC World Markets, Robertson Stephens, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray and First Security Van Kasper serving as co-managers.

The exact number of shares and their price range has not been determined. MRV will own an undisclosed percentage of the company when the IPO is finished but it plans to disperse its Luminent holdings to MRV shareholders within six to 12 months.

News of the filing was not enough to sustain investor enthusiasm throughout a trading day that saw most technology stock prices drop. MRV finished the day down 19 cents to $71 a share on volume of 7.1 million shares after trading as high as $76.75.

Luminent, with 650 employees, makes fiber-optic network components for communications networks. Before the Luminent spinoff, MRV launched companies including router makers Zuma Networks and Charlotte's Networks, communications infrastructure maker Zaffire Inc., optical components companies RedC Networks and Optical Crossing Inc. and business-to-business service provider Hyperchannel.