SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

June 16, 2003
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

 

CIENA Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware		0-21969		23-2725311
(State or other jurisdiction of		(Commission File No.)		(IRS Employer Identification No.)
incorporation)

1201 Winterson Road, Linthicum, Maryland 21090
(Address of principal executive offices)  (Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
(410) 865-8500

 

Not applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Exhibit Index on Page 2

 

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Item 9.      Regulation FD Disclosure.

                  On June 16, 2003, CIENA Corporation issued a press release announcing the closing of its acquisition of WaveSmith Networks, Inc. The press release is being furnished hereto as Exhibit 99.1.

 

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SIGNATURES

                  Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

		CIENA CORPORATION
Date: June 17, 2003		By:		/s/ Russell B. Stevenson, Jr.
				Russell B. Stevenson, Jr.
				Senior Vice President, General Counsel and
				Secretary

 

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EXHIBIT 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CIENA ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF WAVESMITH TRANSACTION

LINTHICUM, Md. – June 16, 2003 – CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), a leading provider of global network solutions, today announced it completed its acquisition of WaveSmith Networks, Inc. According to the agreement announced April 9, 2003, CIENA acquired all outstanding shares of WaveSmith and assumed all outstanding options and warrants in exchange for approximately 36 million shares of CIENA common stock.

Excluding the value of CIENA common stock issuable to CIENA as a result of a previous investment in WaveSmith, the price paid in the transaction was approximately $178 million, based on the closing price of CIENA’s common stock on Friday, June 13, 2003.

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ABOUT CIENA
CIENA Corporation delivers innovative network solutions to the world’s largest service providers, increasing the cost-efficiency of current services while enabling the creation of new carrier-class data services built upon the existing network infrastructure. Additional information about CIENA can be found at www.ciena.com.