Infinera CFO switch stokes IPO rumors

Infinera named a new chief financial officer today in a move sure to fan the flames of speculation over whether the company will pursue an initial public offering sometime soon.

A press release issued by the company today said its new CFO, Duston Williams, will guide Infinera’s finances as the company moves into “its next phase of growth and expansion… scaling its infrastructure, production, and staff.”

When asked today how Infinera will fund that expansion, however, a company spokesperson said only, “We’re not commenting on financial strategy at this time.”

Williams has experience with public companies, having recently served as CFO of disk drive manufacturer Maxtor and, in the late 1990s, Western Digital. However, he also has worked for private telecom firms Aruba Networks and Rhapsody Networks. Rhapsody was bought by Brocade Networks for $175 million in 2003, and Maxtor was bought by Seagate for $2.5 billion last month.

Infinera has raised roughly $203 million in funds since its inception in 2001. And since the 2004 launch of its signature product, an optical switching platform that uses integrated photonics to reduce the cost of optical-electrical conversions, the company has won seven customers, including Level 3 Communications and XO Communications.

Infinera has about 400 employees (about 80 of which are in India, the rest in the United States) but was actively and vocally recruiting at the Globalcomm trade show earlier this month, declaring plans to add 120 people in roles including engineering, operations, sales, marketing, and support.

In March, the company claimed $100 million in annual revenue, but when asked today if Infinera is profitable, the spokesperson again declined comment.

Infinera’s previous CFO, Bill Zerella, left the company in recent weeks, the spokesperson said. “He chose to go.”