Alcatel Tight-Lipped, Shares Up As Lucent Deal In Offing
Dow Jones Online News, 05/29/2001 09:41
PARIS-(Dow Jones)- French telecommunications-equipment maker Alcatel SA (ALA) maintained radio silence Tuesday amid talk that its board is meeting to give the final clearance to Chairman Serge Tchuruk for a multibillion-dollar all-share offer for U.S.-based rival Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU).
With further speculation that a possible confirmation of the deal - which would create one of the world's biggest telecom groups - could come as early as 1000 GMT Wednesday, an Alcatel spokesman continued to offer no comment on the possible merger.
Investment sentiment is nonetheless swinging round in Alcatel's favor, particularly after the Wall Street Journal reported that the deal wouldn't include Lucent's 58% stake in optoelectronics unit Agere Systems Inc., which is valued at around $7.6 billion.
That value of a possible Alcatel offer is significantly below the $42-billion original price tag put on Lucent's assets, although the exact details of the deal - the terms, the structure of a merged company and the project's vulnerability to being scuppered by regulatory concerns in the U.S. - remain unclear.
Around 1340 GMT, Alcatel shares were up 60 cents, or 1.9%, at EUR32.40 on the Paris stock exchange.
If the merger goes ahead at a reported value of $23.5 billion, it would represent the largest technology-based transaction ever.
Alcatel's acquisition would offer no premium to Lucent or its shareholders.
The U.S. giant has been struggling to remain competitive over the past 18 months, with its market capitalization falling to around $32 billion from $285 billion in December 1999.
Alcatel's market value stands at EUR39.3 billion.
-By Valerie Venck and Matthew Curtin, Dow Jones Newswires; 331-4017-1740; matthew.curtin@dowjones.com -0- 29/05/01 13-26G
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
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