Calix poised for big year after Occam acquisition

Petaluma broadband equipment maker Calix expects sales to top $400 million this year, powered by its acquisition of rival Occam Networks, Calix CEO Carl Russo said Monday.

"We will expand our reach globally," Russo told Wall Street analysts after the market closed. "Calix is in the strongest position in our history."

The Petaluma technology company reported a record $287 million in revenue last year.

Calix bought Occam in February for $213 million in cash and stock, increasing its customer base by a third and adding a portfolio of new technology for streaming voice, video and data over carriers' broadband networks.

Santa Barbara-based Occam makes technology based on Ethernet, a transmission system that handles traffic more efficiently. Occam's engineering team will help Calix quickly introduce new products, Russo said Monday.

The two companies have been merging resources since February. About half of Occam's 182 employees will remain with Calix and the rest will get severance packages.

Calix officials didn't say whether any employees at its headquarters in Petaluma or other Calix locations would lose their jobs as part of the integration.

Calix had about 460 employees before the merger, with facilities in Petaluma, Boston, Minneapolis and China.

The combined company is a major player in the federal government's $8 billion broadband stimulus program, which provides grants and loans for rural telecom companies to upgrade their networks.

Over 80 percent of stimulus projects announced so far are using technology from Calix and Occam, the company said. Calix targets small to midsize customers serving U.S regional markets.

But it's started to serve telecom companies in the Caribbean and Latin America, and the Occam acquisition will give Calix a foothold in Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

Still, Calix isn't expected to turn a quarterly profit until the fourth quarter, after it deals with about $30 million in restructuring costs.

Calix went public in March 2010 with an $82 million stock sale. Shares were priced at $13 for the initial public offering and closed Monday at $20.42 on the New York Stock Exchange, down 4 cents from Friday.