Netherlands Company to Acquire Lannet Data : Manufacturing: No layoffs expected at Tel Aviv company’s North American headquarters in Irvine.

Lannet Data Communications Ltd., a maker of products for office computer networks, said Monday that it has agreed to be acquired by a competitor in a stock swap worth $300 million.

The purchase by Madge N.V. in the Netherlands will create the world’s fifth-largest manufacturer of office network products with 1,180 employees worldwide and revenue of $283.5 million, based on last year’s results.

Lannet, a Tel Aviv company with its North American headquarters in Irvine, has 50 employees in Orange County.

Madge Networks in San Jose, Madge’s North American company, said that the merger should not result in any layoffs. In Orange County, a small Madge office in Newport Beach with less than 10 employees probably would be folded into Lannet’s headquarters, a Madge spokeswoman said.

“We’re doing this because we’re looking to expand, not because we’re looking at a layoff,” said Cynthia Ringo, Madge’s senior vice president for business development.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lannet shareholders will receive $27.50 worth of newly issued shares of Madge common stock in exchange for each existing share of Lannet stock.

Lannet, with 380 employees worldwide, designs and supplies the hardware and computer programs needed to transmit data on office networks through the standard known as Ethernet.

Madge, with 800 employees, designs programs and components for a rival office networking standard known as the Token Ring system.