Prysmian has completed its acquisition of Xtera through a joint venture with Fincantieri, combining submarine telecom system expertise with cable manufacturing and installation capabilities as it expands production capacity in Nordenham, Germany.

Oct 14, 2026

Prysmian has completed the acquisition of Xtera Topco Limited, a UK- and US-based specialist in turnkey submarine telecommunications systems, through a joint venture in which Prysmian holds an 80% stake and Fincantieri holds the remaining 20%. Announced in December 2025, the transaction implies an enterprise value of USD 65 million.

The acquisition strengthens Prysmian’s position in submarine telecommunications by combining Xtera’s proprietary repeater technology, optical engineering and system integration expertise with Prysmian’s submarine cable manufacturing, installation, monitoring and maintenance capabilities. The move comes amid growing demand for submarine telecom infrastructure driven by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and data centre expansion.

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In September 2026, Xtera was selected by EXA Infrastructure to provide the optical engineering and wet and dry plant for EXA Meridian, a 6,552 km transatlantic submarine cable system connecting New Jersey in the US with Brean in the UK. Designed with 24 fibre pairs and scalable capacity exceeding 500 Tbps, the system is targeted to enter service in 2029.

Cables for the EXA Meridian project will be manufactured at Prysmian’s submarine telecom centre of excellence in Nordenham, Germany. The facility, formerly known as NSW, has been manufacturing submarine cables since 1899. Prysmian is doubling production capacity at the site to meet rising demand and plans to recruit up to 300 employees.

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Raul Gil, EVP Transmission at Prysmian, said submarine telecommunications represents a significant growth opportunity for the company, with security and resilience becoming increasingly important. He added that the combination of Xtera’s technology, Prysmian’s submarine cable expertise and expanded manufacturing capacity would support new orders and market share growth. The company is also exploring the addition of a dedicated submarine telecom cable-laying vessel.