Lucent Technologies to Acquire Xedia Corporation
Acquisition Adds Next-Generation IP/Virtual Private Network Capabilities to Expanding Enterprise Data Networking Portfolio
MURRAY HILL, N.J., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU - news) today said it has agreed to acquire Xedia Corporation, a privately held developer of high performance Internet access routers for wide area networks, for about 3.86 million shares of Lucent common stock. Based on Lucent's closing share price on Thursday, August 12, the transaction would be worth approximately $246 million.
Lucent expects the transaction to be completed in the quarter ending December 31, 1999. The merger, which will be accounted for as a pooling of interests, is expected to be neutral to earnings in fiscal 2000.
Based in Acton, Mass., Xedia© supplies high performance routers that deliver next-generation, Internet Protocol-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions to corporations and service providers.
``This acquisition fills an important space in our enterprise data networking portfolio with award-winning products that are absolutely best-in- class,' said Curtis Sanford, president, Lucent's InterNetworking Systems group. "Xedia's fully integrated Access Point(TM) routing products will give Lucent a key advantage at the edge of the campus network, where corporations and service providers are coming together to deliver next-generation services, such as IP Virtual Private Networks.'
Ashley Stephenson, chairman of Xedia, will become vice president and chief technology officer of Lucent's Enterprise WAN Systems group. Robert Steinkrauss, president of Xedia, will become vice president and general manager in Lucent's Enterprise WAN Systems group. They will both report to Roger Boyce, vice president and general manager for Lucent's Enterprise WAN Systems group.
``Xedia is recognized as a leader in delivering advanced VPN capabilities to the most demanding customers in the industry,' Steinkrauss said. ``We now look forward to significantly increasing our ability to meet next-generation customer needs with our access to the vast technical and financial resources of Lucent and Bell Labs.'
Xedia's customer base includes MCI WorldCom's UUNET, PSINet, Concentric Network and Sprint. In addition, Xedia has significant relationships with established partners such as Westcon, Verio and Copper Mountain.
Xedia's award-winning Access Point QVPN IP-enabled routers and bandwidth management solutions complement Lucent's enterprise WAN access solutions. These solutions include Pipeline access routers, with more than one million shipped, and VPNWorX(TM) IP and ATM security solutions, including the Lucent VPN Gateway, Lucent Managed Firewall and Lucent Security Management Server.
Founded in 1993, Xedia employs about 90 people. It distributes its products through Internet Service Providers, value-added distributors, resellers and OEMs. Xedia's employees will continue to be located in Acton, Mass.
Lucent's Enterprise Systems group is headed by President Menachem Abraham and includes the LAN Systems Group in Concord, Mass. and Tel Aviv, Israel, the WAN Systems Group in Tinton Falls, N.J., and the IP Services Product Group in Malvern, Pa. The LAN Systems Group provides LAN enterprise products, including the Cajun(TM) Campus family of multifunction, ATM, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet switching and routing platforms, as well as network management and policy management software. The WAN Systems Group offers the VPNWorX security solutions and the Pipeline access routers to corporations, small businesses and ISPs. The IP Services Group delivers the QIP©IP Address Management software, and the RealNet Rules policy management software application.
As part of its data networking portfolio, Lucent also offers NetCare© Professional Services, a broad set of planning, implementation and integration, operations and administration, support and maintenance and managed communication services designed to support customer needs in multivendor data, video and voice networked environments.
About Xedia Corporation
Xedia, a privately-held, venture-backed corporation, is leading the way with a new class of Internet/IP access routers delivering the performance, security and service level control network providers need to deliver the next- generation of business-class Internet services. Xedia's Access Point products have been Internet-certified by the industry's leading network providers and are deployed in the most demanding business Internet services in the industry today. For more information, customers can access the company's Web site at xedia.com.
About Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. More information about Lucent Technologies is available on the company's Web site at: lucent.com. |
