Latham & Watkins and Alston & Bird have been called in for fibre-optic cable maker Amphenol’s $10.5bn acquisition of CommScope’s connectivity and cable solutions business, in a deal that will enable Amphenol to capitalise on surging broadband and 5G demand.
The deal comes as CommScope, which reported a debt load of $9.4bn as of December, pursues asset sales to streamline operations and boost its balance sheet.
A Latham team led by New York and Orange County corporate partners Charles Ruck, Andrew Elken and Brian Umanoff are acting for Amphenol on the deal. The trio also advised the business last year on its $2.1bn acquisition of CommScope’s outdoor wireless network (OWN) and distributed antenna systems (DAS) businesses.
Meanwhile, Alston & Bird is guiding CommScope, with the team led by M&A partners Mark Kelly, Scott Kummer, Peter Fritz, Justin Howard, Sarah Hess Mackenzie, Bhanu Mathur, Simon Root and Rebecca Valentino. The firm also advised CommScope last year on the sale of its OWN and DAS units to Amphenol, with the team led by Kelly, Scott and Kummer.
For the latest deal, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz has also been called in to advise an affiliate of The Carlyle Group, which holds around $1.2bn of preferred CommScope stock. The team includes corporate partner Mark Stagliano and restructuring partner Benjamin Arfa.
Amphenol said the deal will expand its interconnect product capabilities in the fast-growing IT datacom market, particularly adding fibre optic interconnect products for AI and other data centre applications. It will also broaden its portfolio of fibre optic and other interconnect products in the communications networks and industrial markets.
The all-cash transaction is expected to be completed within the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. It is expected to be accretive to Amphenol’s diluted earnings per share in the first full year after closing, excluding acquisition-related costs.
JP Morgan Securities is serving as Amphenol’s financial advisor on the deal, while CommScope’s financial advisor is Evercore.
News of the acquisition follows surging M&A in H1 2025, when the value of global deals jumped 33% on year-prior levels to $1.98trn according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
Tech sector deals accounted for 18% of the total value – the largest proportion of any industry – while Latham led LSEG’s global M&A legal advisor rankings after advising on deals worth just shy of $277.5bn in the first half. Wachtell rose two places to third after acting in deals worth $204.9bn, while Alston & Bird was not among the top 25 firms included in the rankings.
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