Lucent Technologies Inc and French telecom equipment maker Alcatel SA are discussing a business merger in what could be the start of consolidation among the companies that help power telephone and Internet networks.
The companies issued a joint statement late on Thursday confirming the talks.
"We can confirm that Lucent and Alcatel are engaged in discussions about a potential merger of equals that is intended to be priced at market. There can be no assurances that any agreement will be reached or that a transaction will be consummated. We will have no further comment until an agreement is reached or the discussions are terminated," the statement said.
A combination with Lucent would allow Paris-based Alcatel to expand its presence in the US market and could trigger a new wave of consolidation among companies that make equipment for phone companies.
The companies have considered getting together before. In the spring of 2001, they were on the verge of a US$23 billion merger, but the talks fell apart in a disagreement over how much control Alcatel would have.
News of the talks was reported online Thursday by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
The Times, citing people close to the talks, reported that Alcatel was negotiating to acquire Lucent for about US$12.6 billion. The Journal valued the "merger of equals" at US$33 billion, quoting unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Consolidation among US regional phone companies, including the proposed US$67 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp by AT&T Inc, has created new pressure on equipment suppliers to combine operations.
Lucent's leadership in wireless technology, used by such major carriers as Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless, would complement Alcatel's leadership in DSL, or digital subscriber line, equipment used by phone companies that are growing their broadband business, the newspaper said.
For Lucent, a combination with Alcatel could represent a fresh start for a company that has gone through a remarkable boom-and-bust cycle in its 10-year history.
The giant telecommunications equipment company was spun off from AT&T Corp in 1996, instantly becoming one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street.
After a rapid rise as it bought up a few dozen smaller companies, Lucent became a Wall Street favorite, with its stock hitting a peak of US$84 per share in December 1999. But the following year, the company began missing earnings targets and then had to restate previously released earnings figures as sales across the telecommunications industry dropped dramatically with the dot-com collapse.
By 2002, the stock had crumbled to a low of 58 cents. Lucent also was hurt by missing key market trends and financing lots of sales of its equipment to small companies that didn't pay it back.
The company was on the brink of collapse, but survived by cutting thousands of jobs and billions in debt.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS