November 22, 2010

Chinese corporation ZJF Group has acquired Cork, Ireland-based Firecomms, a manufacturer of transceivers for consumer plastic optical fiber (POF).

“For some time now, mainland China has been our largest market,” said
Firecomms CEO Declan O’Mahoney. “As the ZJF Group is a major global
player in this sector, today’s announcement not only allows us to
guarantee investment capital and job growth for the future, it also
provides us with access to the world’s largest marketplace for our
technology.”

The deal guarantees €5 million investment in R&D, together with the
expansion of Firecomms’ engineering team from 18 to 30 people over the
next 12 months. The deal also will facilitate the expansion of
Firecomms’ operations in mainland China.

“Our acquisition of Firecomms is driven by the recent decision by
various provincial governments to classify plastic optical fiber as a
major construction focus across China,” said Xuping Zheng, ZJF Group
chair. “Delivering this infrastructure with copper cables would result
in over one million tons of CO2 emissions for China, and would be
impossible to implement, as the demand for copper would far outweigh the
world’s supply. China is already the largest manufacturer of plastic
optical fiber and we are combining those huge resources with Firecomms’
leading technology.”

“This increased investment in R&D, coupled with access to the broad
resources of the ZJF Group, will be hugely advantageous for our
customers,” added O’Mahoney. “In addition to giving us the ability to
offer complete integrated networking solutions to our customers, the
investment and access to a fast-growing marketplace will result in rapid
development of POF solutions, and reduced costs for this reliable,
easy-to-use technology.”

“The acquisition of Firecomms by the ZJF Group demonstrates the global
appeal of the Irish high-tech sector,” commented Batt O’Keeffe,
Ireland’s minister for enterprise, trade and innovation. “Ireland’s
enterprise base is now well diversified and our economic recovery is
anchored in continued strong export growth and a thriving foreign direct
investment sector.”

CLICK HERE for Firecomms.

CLICK HERE for ZJF Group.