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Technology Stocks : Newbridge Networks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (15025)	11/23/1999 4:56:00 PM
From: Glenn McDougall	Respond to of 18016

Likely Newbridge Suitors Form Small Group By Susan Taylor OTTAWA (Reuters) - The list of potential suitors for Canada's troubled Newbridge Networks Corp. may be long, but analysts suggest serious contenders for the networking gear company can be whittled down to a few. Long-standing takeover speculation has hit fever pitch since the Ottawa company announced on November 20 that it hired investment banker Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. to consider options, including its sale, as part of an overhaul that includes cutting more than 700 staff. That follows the firm's sixth warning in 10 quarters and a sales slowdown in the booming U.S. market. About a dozen firms are rumored to be after Newbridge, but the list carries only a few good bets, analysts say. ``We have nothing to publicly disclose at this time,' said Newbridge Chief Financial Officer Ken Wigglesworth. ``Nothing has occurred that leads us to an obligation to disclose anything.' European firms that develop telecoms gear are fingered as the most likely takeover candidates, attracted by Newbridge's strength in the U.S. carrier market and complementary technology for data network systems. Newbridge is best known for its flagship Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology, which sends multimedia data across networks at high speeds. ``I would still cast toward Europe,' said Paul Sagawa, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein & Co. in New York. ``Alcatel, Ericsson, or Siemens... they have the need and they have the want. It's really easy to understand the value...those companies are struggling with developing real carrier class data networking businesses.' France-based telecoms group Alcatel Alsthom has said it does not plan to buy Newbridge, but speculation continues unabated because the firm lacks ATM gear. Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson, often named the most likely candidate to bid for Newbridge, has sent out conflicting signals. The Swedish group reversed Monday earlier statements to Reuters by saying it was not interested in Newbridge. There is some confusion at senior levels of Ericsson, analysts said. President Kurt Hellstrom was named president in July, but board chairman Lars Ramqvist remains acting CEO. ``They're the number one wireless cellular provider, with 45 percent of the world market share, but the next generation of wireless networks will feature high-speed data networking capabilities,' Sagawa said. ``They have some piece part technologies they've acquired along the way, but Ericsson doesn't really have a track record of developing carrier class data network.' Rob MacLellan, analyst at CT Securities in Toronto, ranks Newbridge distribution partner and German industrial and telecoms group Siemens AG as the most likely suitor. Siemens accounts for about 18 percent of Newbridge's revenue. ``They have the longest relationship with Newbridge and they would have a better knowledge of what they were and were not acquiring,' he said. Lisle, Ill.-based Tellabs Inc which does not have ATM gear, is another likely candidate, he said. The firm is heavily rumored to have walked away from advanced negotiations to buy Newbridge last summer due to price. MacLellan also points to communications gear giants Nortel Networks Corp. and California-based Cisco Systems Inc., both relatively new entrants to the ATM space, as contenders. Both may be attracted by grabbing greater ATM market share. Duncan Stewart, fund manager at Tera Capital Corp. in Toronto, ranks the top three contenders as Alcatel, Tellabs and Ericsson. ``Having once known the heady delights of being a success in the ATM area (Alcatel) would like to try to scale those heights once again,' Stewart said. ($1-$1.76 Canadian