Plainview's Kelta to buy Edgewood's Tii Network Tech

Plainview-based manufacturer Kelta Inc. has agreed to acquire Tii Network Technologies, an Edgewood company that designs and produces telecommunications equipment.

Kelta agreed to pay $33.1 million, or $2.15 a share, offering Tii stockholders a 48 percent premium over Friday's closing price. The two companies have a history of working together, company officials said in a statement Monday announcing the acquisition.

“We believe that the combined strength of Tii and Kelta secures our position at the forefront of the industry,” Kelta president Parag Mehta said. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012.

Tii was founded out of a Levittown garage in 1964 as a telephone-equipment maker. The company, which regularly hires Kelta to manufacture its products, has expanded in recent years, adding fiber optics products and other equipment in an effort to become a one-stop destination for communications products and services. Tii sales have increased 60 percent since 2008, to $56.3 million last year.