SANTA ROSA -- Ceremonies around the world marked Keysight Technologies' debut Aug. 1 as a separate business from Agilent Technologies.
Keysight CEO Ron Nersesian unveiled the new sign on Fountaingrove Parkway in northeast Santa Rosa and there was music and food on the campus to celebrate the occasion, according to a Keysight spokesman. Similar celebrations will take place at the company's many locations across the U.S. and overseas.
Keysight Technologies, Inc. (keysight.com), will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Agilent Technologies until early November, when the separation is expected to be completed and Keysight stock begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KEYS." The separation from Agilent was announced in September.
Keysight's operations hold the No. 1 position in communications; aerospace and defense; and industrial, computers, and semiconductors industries.
Since September, Keysight employees have been working nonstop, some of them around the clock, to make the transition, said Mr. Nersisian.
"We had to set up 30 countries -- over 50 legal entities -- and transfer assets and employees into them," he said. "We had to relabel products Keysight, issue Keysight quotes for them and set up about 15,000 customers with new tax and registration IDs, bank accounts, addresses and contact details so that they will be able to conduct business with Keysight. "This quarter before our final separation, we'll be making sure all the systems work properly: placing, collecting and shipping orders for thousands of products, switching ERP and HR systems, putting in place employee benefits programs. It's been incredibly complex. Employees have poured their blood into this."
Keysight employs 1,200 at its Santa Rosa headquarters and about 9,500 worldwide. The company has more than 100,000 customers for its electronic test and measurement equipment and 3,000 suppliers.
