Alcatel Targets Doubling Share Price In Near Future
Dow Jones Online News, 05/26/2000 15:02
OTTAWA -(Dow Jones)- Serge Tchuruk, chairman and chief executive of French telecommunications giant Alcatel SA (ALA), said his immediate goal is to double the company's share price from its current level of US$48.50.
While Tchuruk refused to be pinned down on an exact time frame for this to occur, he told a luncheon audience at the National Press Club that this would have to occur in the near future in order for the company to remain competitive.
Tchuruk said Alcatel's recent US$7.1 billion acquisition of Newbridge Networks Corp. will allow the company to aggressively target the U.S. market, where it has previously had poor representation.
While Tchuruk is waiting until next month's Supercomm trade show in Atlanta to unveil Alcatel's major plans going forward, he clearly put emphasis on gaining market share in the U.S.
"If you want to be a global player, you have to take your chances in North America," he said, adding that the U.S. telecommunications and Internet markets are five years ahead of Europe, and that the major U.S. competitors - Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) and Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) - are "entrenched" and will be difficult to compete against.
Tchuruk had high praise for Newbridge and said the company's ATM switching technology and broadband capabilities will round out Alcatel's product line, as the company endeavors to give customers faster networks.
Tchuruk said that Terence Matthews, Newbridge founder and chief executive, has agreed to sit as an adviser on Alcatel's Chairman's Council. Matthews is now Alcatel's largest individual shareholder, controlling 3% of Alcatel's stock.
Pearse Flynn, who had been installed as Newbridge's president six months ago, has been named to Alcatel's executive committee in Paris, France. As well, Flynn will be the president of Alcatel's carrier networking group.
-Joel Baglole, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0668
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
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