STLW Stratos Intl (MM)

CHICAGO, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stratos International, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLW), today announced that Kenne Bristol was elected to Stratos' Board of Directors at Stratos' recent stockholders meeting. Mr. Bristol's election brings to seven the total number of directors on the Stratos board. The company also announced its board of directors has authorized company management to repurchase up to 1.3 million shares of Stratos common stock from time to time on the open market. The repurchase program is designed to eliminate dilution to stockholders as a result of future issuances of shares under Stratos' 2003 Stock Plan. At Stratos' recent stockholders meeting, stockholders approved an increase of 1.3 million shares issuable under the 2003 Stock Plan. Mr. Bristol served as Chairman of the Alliance Bancorp Division of Charter One Financial from 2001 to 2004. He also served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Alliance Bancorp and its primary subsidiary Liberty Federal Bank, from 1992 until it was acquired by Charter One Financial in 2001. "Kenne brings considerable leadership skills and experience to Stratos and I look forward to working with Kenne to create a profitable company," said Andy Harris, President and Chief Executive Officer. Commenting on the repurchase program, Mr. Harris stated, "Stratos has a strong balance sheet and the board wanted to provide us with the ability to repurchase our shares on an opportunistic basis. With the recent approval of an increase of 1,330,000 shares issuable under our 2003 Stock Plan, we will repurchase shares in the open market to cover those issuances, which will eliminate dilution to stockholders and provide an alternative measure of the costs of the plan to stockholders." ABOUT STRATOS INTERNATIONAL Stratos International, Inc. is a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of active and passive optical, optoelectronic, RF and Microwave components, subsystems and interconnect products used in telecom, enterprise, military and video markets. Stratos has a rich history of optical and mechanical packaging expertise and has been a pioneer in developing several optical devices using innovative form factors for telecom, datacom and harsh environments application. This expertise, coupled with several strategic acquisitions, has allowed the Company to amass a broad range of products and build a strong IP portfolio of more than 100 patents. The Company currently serves more than 1,300 active customers, who are primarily in telecom/datacom, military/aerospace and video markets. The Company's headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois, USA. For additional information contact Stratos International at 7444 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago, IL USA 60706-4549; Tel: 708.867.9600. Fax: 708.867.0996. Website: http://www.stratosinternational.com/ DATASOURCE: Stratos International, Inc. CONTACT: Jim Tournier, Investor Relations of Stratos International, Inc., +1-708-457-2645, Web site: http://www.stratosinternational.com/

Copyright