Looks like LU is going to try to get into more of a head on clash with CSCO in the future. We knew it was coming, and ASND was always the likely target. I checked on the MSN Investor site and found that ASND already has a 15.5 billion market cap and a 62 PE ratio, how much of a premium above this can LU afford to pay without damaging its own stock price? Anyway, here is the article I found.... Comments?
Lucent near merger with Ascend in $16bn deal - FT
Reuters Story - January 10, 1999 23:00
WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Lucent Technologies Inc is close to announcing a merger with Ascend
Communications in a deal likely to be valued at more than $16 billion, the London-based Financial Times reports in
Monday editions.
The Financial Times quoted sources close to the talks as saying that an announcement was likely to be made this week,
possibly as early as Wednesday.
Under the merger deal, Lucent, with a market capitalization of about $152 billion, will take over Ascend, which is
valued at about $15.5 billion, the paper said.
The newspaper said Ascend shareholders were expected to welcome the deal, which would likely include a premium.
Talks between the companies are said to have been going for several weeks, according to the newspaper report. The
sources said that while talks were now reaching an advanced stage, they could still fall apart.
Lucent, formerly part of AT&T , is one of the oldest suppliers of traditional telephone equipment. Ascend's background
is in data networking equipment for linking computers.
Ascend is said by analysts to have strengths in two particularly fast-growing areas asynchronous transfer mode and
internet protocol routing technology. |
