Keysight outbids rival Viavi to buy UK's Spirent for $1.5 billion

March 28 (Reuters) - Keysight Technologies outbid rival Viavi Solutions to buy Spirent Communications for about 1.16 billion pounds ($1.46 billion) on Thursday, winning a battle over the UK telecoms testing firm's expertise in automation.

Shares in London-listed Spirent were up 10.6% to 198.0 pence as of 0957 GMT. Electronic equipment maker Keysight offered 201.5 pence per share, topping Viavi's 175 pence bid in early March.

Spirent possesses capabilities in software, cloud, and automation technologies as next-generation communication networks including 6G become increasingly software-based, driven by advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Spirent, which had earlier agreed to a deal with Viavi, withdrew its support as it was 15% lower than the Keysight offer.

Viavi did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

"Following my discussions with the Keysight management team, I am excited about the broader reach and expanded long-term prospects for Spirent arising from the combination with Keysight," Spirent CEO Eric Updyke said.

Keysight's offer represents a premium of 85.9% to Spirent's closing price of 108.4 pence on March 4, higher than Viavi's 61.4% premium.

Spirent has more than 1,500 employees, and serves about 1,100 customers in over 50 countries. Keysight's deal would lead to headcount reductions of less than 5% across the combined group, it said in a statement.

Deal activity has picked up this year, with several UK companies becoming the target of takeovers from more than one interested buyer. This includes UK packaging giant DS Smith , logistics firm Wincanton and electricals retailer Currys.