MRV SPINS AGAIN CHATSWORTH FIRM BUYS SWISS CES.

Byline: Jason Z. Cohen Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH - MRV Communications is at it again, buying companies and spinning them off as independent business units.

This time, the Chatsworth-based maker of networking components and communications equipment is buying Switzerland-based CES and spinning it off to form iTouch Communications.

The new company, based in Geneva and Littleton, Mass., will develop systems to speed the movement of data over networks.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and representatives of MRV Communications were unavailable Friday.

In a statement, Philippe Szwarc, who will head iTouch, said the new company will combine MRV's strength in routing, wide-area networking and Internet protocol with CES's ability to move information at high speeds.

Through particle physics, CES has developed a way to move information more quickly. The company's existing customers include Airbus Industrie, Aerospatiale, CERN, DaimlerChrysler, Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks.

The acquisition is MRV's fourth in a month, and iTouch is the third company MRV has spun off in two months.

In late April, MRV bought two Taiwanese firms, Optronics International Corp. and Quantum Optech Inc., which it combined with its existing optical access division and another recent purchase, Fiber Optic Communications Inc., to form Luminent Inc.

Other spin-offs include router maker Zuma Networks and Charlotte's Networks, communications infrastructure maker Zaffire Inc., business-to- business service provider Hyperchannel and optical components makers RedC Networks and Optical Crossing Inc.