ADC Telecommunications history

In the fall of 1936, the two combined their efforts to form the Audio Development Company (ADC). The company was later renamed to ADC Telecommunications, Inc.

In 1941, while participating in a project to develop a sophisticated audio system for Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota, ADC also began to produce jacks, plugs, patch cords, and jackfields, foreshadowing its future involvement in the telephone industry.

Additionally, by 1942, the company had designed a sophisticated audio system for the University of Minnesota, and the resulting jacks, plugs, patch cords and jackfields became the cornerstones for ADC's later entry into telecommunications.

Initially the audiometers were built for Maico, but in 1945 ADC began building audiometers under its own name.

In 1949, ADC sold its audiometer product line and Ralph Allison left the company to form a new business in California.

Magnetic Controls Company was founded and incorporated in Minnesota in 1953, part of the wave of technological development during the postwar era.

The company launched an ongoing involvement with major space missions in 1962, eventually designing and manufacturing sensors for the Columbia space shuttle.

In 1970, when Charles Denny was encouraged by shareholders to quit his marketing executive job at Honeywell and to take over leadership of the company, the company's earnings stood at $6 million.

In 1984, Magnetic Controls Company acquired TMS Systems, Inc., a private Massachusetts-based company that manufactured telephone call management equipment and software.

Recalling its heritage, in March 1985, Magnetic Controls Company changed its name to ADC Telecommunications and renamed its new subsidiary ADC Advanced Fiber Optics Corp.

Foreign buyers accounted for 8 percent of revenues; by 1988, they were at 15 percent, with marketing efforts in Europe, the Pacific Rim, Canada, Latin America, and the Middle East.

ADC also acquired Telinq Inc. in 1990 and used its newly acquired fiber-optics expertise to develop a local loop system with the goal of providing economical fiber directly to private homes.

In 1991, ADC acquired Fibermux, a maker of high-speed, fiberoptic equipment for local area networks (LANs). The company was purchased for $50 million, with a $40 million loan.

In 1992 ADC formed a collaborative development venture with Fulcrum Communications in Birmingham, England, devising a system to carry voice and video signals over fiber-optic cable to businesses and residences in North America in a more cost-effective way.

Fibermux proved so successful an investment for ADC that the loan was paid off by 1993.

In 1994, as the Internet began its early growth phase, Charles Denny announced his retirement as chairman of the board and was replaced by Bill Cadogan.

Cadogan directed the company to pursue the course of an early follower--rather than a leader--in the developing industry, while expanding its fiber division toward a goal of $250 million in sales by 1995.

By 1997, with two more acquisitions under its belt, the company's revenue had exceeded $1 billion, and it was competing with such industry giants as Lucent Technologies, Motorola, and Northern Telecom.

But even though ADC's sales kept growing, its stock price took a sudden plunge in early 1998 as the company reported a net loss of $13.2 million for the first quarter ended January.

By 2001, however, ADC’s fortunes had turned.

At the beginning of 2005, there were a number of even more positive signs, including second quarter earnings above expectations and a one-for-seven reverse stock split intended to raise share prices and attract investors.

The acquisition of ADC by TE Connectivity was completed on December 9, 2010

On January 28, 2015, it was publicly announced that the boards of directors of both TE Connectivity and CommScope agreed for CommScope to purchase the Broadband Network Solutions business unit of TE Connectivity in an all-cash deal for US$3.0 billion.