Keysight completes big acquisition

Article Excerpt

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $38 (New York symbol KEYS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 183.0 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.keysight.com) makes devices for testing electronic equipment. In April 2017, the company paid $1.6 billion for California-based Ixia. That firm makes software to test wireless and computer networks. To help pay for Ixia, Keysight sold 11.4 million common shares at $35.00 each for a total of $400 million. It also sold $700 million of new notes. That increased its long-term debt to around $1.8 billion, or 26% of the company’s market cap. Buying Ixia complements Keysight’s existing products, and will help it profit from the rollout of faster wireless networks and the Internet of Things (the connection of devices to the Internet and each other). However, big acquisitions add risk. Keysight is a hold. hold…