Alvarion sells WiMAX business to Telrad for $6.1M

Alvarion, one of WiMAX's biggest champions over the years, sold its WiMAX business to network vendor Telrad Networks for $6.1 million, marking an end to a business that had seen dwindling revenue as more and more carriers selected LTE.

In addition to the $6.1 million, Alvarion "may receive certain performance-based milestone payments of up to $6 million," the companies said in a statement. The firms expect the deal to close during the second quarter. Telrad is owned by private equity fund Fortissimo Capital.

Alvarion and Telrad also agreed to sign a reseller agreement under which Alvarion will continue to provide carrier licensed solutions to its partners and distributors and Telrad will provide Alvarion's unlicensed solutions to its carrier customers after the deal is completed.

Earlier this week Alvarion postponed the announcement of its fourth-quarter earnings to March 6 "due to ongoing negotiations to sell" its carrier licensed division, the name it gave to its WiMAX operations.

As far back as May, Alvarion CEO Hezi Lapid said the company was exploring options for its WiMAX unit.

In the third quarter of 2012 Alvarion reported revenue of $27.1 million, down 42.4 percent from $47 million in the third quarter of 2011. The company also reported a net loss of $20.6 million, wider than the net loss of $7.5 million in the year-ago quarter.

For more:
- see this release

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