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DOJ Requires Keysight to Shed Spirent Units Before $1.57 Billion Acquisition Proceeds

By  |  June 2, 2025

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has mandated that Keysight Technologies divest three business units of Spirent Communications in order to proceed with its proposed acquisition of the British firm, according to a filing in federal court on Monday.

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    The decision stems from antitrust concerns linked to the $1.57 billion deal, first announced in March 2024. Per a statement from the DOJ, the businesses to be sold include Spirent’s operations in high-speed ethernet testing, network security testing, and radio frequency channel emulation. These assets are slated to be acquired by Viavi Solutions for up to $425 million in cash.

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    According to the DOJ, the two companies together dominate key testing markets. The combined entity would hold approximately 85% of the high-speed ethernet testing sector, more than 60% of the network security testing market, and over half of the radio frequency channel emulation segment. The department argued that without the divestitures, the merger could significantly reduce competition and adversely impact consumers.

    The DOJ’s antitrust filing emphasized the potential risks of market concentration. “The transaction, as originally structured, might substantially lessen competition in critical testing and measurement markets,” the department noted in the court documents.

    Santa Rosa, California-based Keysight initially announced plans to acquire Spirent, headquartered in Crawley, U.K., for 1.16 billion British pounds, a deal now valued at around $1.57 billion. As part of that arrangement, Keysight revealed in March its intention to offload the three Spirent units to Viavi Solutions—formerly known as JDS Uniphase—a move seemingly designed to address competitive concerns.

    Neither Keysight nor Spirent has publicly commented on the DOJ’s ruling as of this publication.

    Source: Reuters