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CommScope and Furukawa Purchase 10.2 Million Shares Of CommScope Stock From Lucent
PR Newswire - Wednesday, October 09, 2002
HICKORY, N.C., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CommScope, Inc. (NYSE: CTV) and Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. of Japan (Tokyo: 5801), today privately purchased 10.2 million shares of CommScope stock held by Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU). Lucent had acquired the CommScope common stock in connection with CommScope's investment in OFS BrightWave, LLC in November 2001.
The total purchase price for the 10.2 million-share block was approximately $53.0 million or $5.20 per share. Furukawa purchased 7,656,900 shares, which it plans to hold for investment purposes. CommScope purchased 2,543,100 shares, which it will hold as treasury stock. CommScope funded its $13.2 million purchase using current cash balances.
Frank Drendel, CommScope Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "We believe that we have crafted win/win solutions despite the challenging business conditions. We also believe that our long-term strategic relationship with Furukawa has been enhanced while satisfying Lucent's desire to monetize their CommScope holdings in a difficult market environment."
Dr. Katsuhiko Okubo, Ph.D., Senior Managing Director of Furukawa said, "We have built an important alliance with CommScope and believe that their stock will be a good investment over the longer term." Furukawa now holds approximately 13% of CommScope's outstanding common stock.
Lucent had held CommScope common stock since November 16, 2001. At that time, CommScope acquired an approximate 18.4% interest in OFS BrightWave, a company formed by CommScope and Furukawa to acquire certain fiber cable and transmission fiber assets of the Optical Fiber Solutions Group of Lucent Technologies. CommScope issued 10.2 million shares of its common stock to Lucent in lieu of a portion of the cash purchase price payable by Furukawa to Lucent in connection with the acquisition of a portion of Lucent's OFS Group.
CommScope and Furukawa have also entered into agreements that outline various investment terms, including resale restrictions, registration rights, standstill provisions, as well as call and limited put rights related to the CommScope shares held by Furukawa. CommScope and Furukawa have also agreed to change from 2004 to 2006 the date when CommScope could first exercise its contractual right to sell its ownership interest in OFS BrightWave to Furukawa for a cash payment equal to CommScope's original investment.
Through its relationship with OFS, CommScope has an ownership interest in one of the world's largest producers of optical fiber and cable and has access to a broad array of technologically advanced optical fibers.
CommScope is the world's largest manufacturer of broadband coaxial cable for Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) applications and a leading supplier of high- performance fiber optic and twisted pair cables for LAN, wireless and other communications applications.
This press release includes forward-looking statements that are based on information currently available to management, management's beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those currently expected. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see CommScope's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, our Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2002. In providing forward-looking statements, the company does not intend, and is not undertaking any obligation or duty, to update these statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise |
