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Technology Stocks : Alcatel (ALA) and France -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (3091)	3/2/2001 1:26:12 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3891

Lucent's Optical-Fiber Unit Could Fetch $10 Billion From Suitors Dow Jones Online News, 03/2/2001 01:04 NEW YORK -- The potential sale of Lucent Technologies Inc.'s optical-fiber business is drawing strong interest from prospective suitors as several companies angle to make bids which could range from $8 billion to $10 billion, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. While the auction process hasn't officially started, Corning Inc. (GLW), Alcatel SA (ALA) of France, JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU) and Italy's Pirelli SpA, among others, already have informally expressed an interest in the business, these people say. Corning and JDS have gone so far as to make pre-emptive offers to buy the business. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission, as part of its enforcement probe related to Lucent's (LU) restatement of results for the past fiscal year, has requested two years of audit information from the company's outside accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, according to people with knowledge of the probe. While the request for multiple years of information from the auditor is typical in SEC accounting investigations, the enforcement division so far has asked the company, customers and at least one former executive for information that covers only the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2000, these people say. The investigation is in its early stages, and there have been no allegations of wrongdoing. A Lucent spokeswoman said the company's discussions with the SEC have focused only on fiscal 2000. "The comprehensive review we had done by outside auditors and counsel found no issues related to any prior periods," Kathleen Fitzgerald said. The sale of Lucent's Optical Fiber Solutions unit could be a heated auction, despite the overall slowdown in the telecommunications industry. Copyright (c) 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved