Tellabs Acquires NEDian Rehan Jalil's Wichorus For $165 million

[Riaz Haq]

In today's M&A news involving NEDian and Wichorus founder Rehan Jalil, U.S. network equipment maker Tellabs Inc (TLAB.O) said on Thursday that it planned to buy wireless infrastructure gear manufacturer WiChorus for $165 million to bolster its next-generation wireless technology and take advantage of growing smartphone sales.

The move comes on the heels of an announcement by industry leader Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) that it would acquire wireless gear maker Starent, a much bigger rival to privately owned WiChorus, for $2.9 billion. More deals are expected to follow.

WiChorus specializes in 3G and 4G infrastructure products, which support advanced mobile services including Internet access and mobile TV.

Wichorus maintains a development center in Karachi, Pakistan. It has a number of positions open in its Karachi office for software engineers.