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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis R. Duke who wrote (1456)	6/4/1998 1:55:00 PM
From: Tech Bull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1629

Latest telecom equipment deals show need for size Thursday June 4, 12:45 pm Eastern Time NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) biz.yahoo.com The two telecommunications equipments mergers seen in the past two days highlight the need for small companies to join forces to compete against the industry giants, analysts said. On Thursday, French telecoms giant Alcatel Alsthom (ALA - news) agreed to buy Dallas-based DSC Communications Corp (DIGI - news) for $4.4 billion. This followed Wednesday's agreement for Tellabs Inc (TLAB - news) to buy Ciena Corp for $7.1 billion. In each deal, the buyer offered its takeover target the chance to join a bigger company with a broader product portfolio and deeper financial pockets. The acquisitions also will help the combined companies, which will join research and development efforts, reduce the time it takes to bring new products to market. ''I think size is a factor. Big (telecom) carriers are getting bigger and bigger. They need to have suppliers with stronger backing,'' said Ted Moreau, a telecommunications analyst with R.W. Baird. ''Carriers are looking for total solutions instead of needing to have a group of engineers assemble various components from several suppliers,'' said Robert Wilkes, a telecommunications analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman. The two deals sparked interest in other telecommunications equipment makers, analysts said. Advanced Fibre Communications Inc (AFCI - news), one of the most active Nasdaq issues, jumped more than 10 percent or 3-15/16 to 40-7/16. Advanced Fibre, however, may not be as attractive as Ciena or DSC since Advanced Fibre concetrates mostly on small telecommunications company networks and its stock has become pricey in recent months, analysts said. As telecommunications companies become more focused on data transmission and Internet service, data equipment suppliers and voice suppliers will likely join forces. ''The next 12 months will stay pretty hot. The data networking companies and the voice companies could get together. The (Baby) Bells are looking to merge their voice and data networks together and they want turn-key solutions and want to have suppliers that can handle it all,'' said Chandan Sarkar, a telecommunications equipment analyst with SoundView Financial Group. Lucent Technologies (LU - news), the telecommunications equipment maker spun off from AT&T Corp (T - news) in 1996, has made several small acquisitions over the past 18 months. Lucent is expected to make a more bold move this fall when it is freed from a two-year restriction against pooling-of-interest combinations that would unravel its favorable tax-free spin-of from AT&T, analysts said. Lucent could partner with networking companies such as Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO - news) or Ascend Communications Inc (ASND - news), analysts said. As the data and voice markets become more integrated, companies such as Cisco may benefit from a merger partner with better relationships with telecommunications companies, Moreau said. Northern Telecom Ltd (NTL.TO - news) also may become more aggressive in searching for acquisitions, analysts said. Ascend added 1-13/16 to 43-3/4, Cisco gained 11/16 to 75-5/16 and Lucent 1-7/8 to 71-3/8.

To: Dennis R. Duke who wrote (1456)	6/5/1998 8:10:00 PM
From: gbh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1629

Canada's Nortel seen shopping for data firm (How about NT+ASND???) By Lydia Zajc TORONTO, June 5 (Reuters) - Northern Telecom Ltd. (NT - news), a huge telecommunications equipment maker, is seeking to make a match with a data network firm to complement its voice phone products, analysts said on Friday. Chandan Sarkar, an analyst at U.S.-based SoundView Financial Group, said Nortel seemed eager to acquire or merge with Bay Networks Inc. (BAY - news) or Ascend Communications Inc. (ASND - news) ''They're saying they may need to get aggressive, because they see massive consolidation going on,'' he said. This week Tellabs Inc. (TLAB - news) bought upstart Ciena Corp. for $7.1 billion and France's Alcatel Alsthom SA (ALA - news) snapped up Dallas-based DSC Communications Corp. for $4.4 billion in stock. Peter Janacek, spokesman for the world's sixth largest telecommunication products maker, declined to comment on the Bay Networks acquisition/merger speculation which has wafted through markets for weeks. ''We're not speculating on rumors, whatsoever,'' he said. One industry observer said that according to his information, Nortel's majority shareholder BCE Inc. had sanctioned a Bay Networks deal and that it would be unveiled this weekend to kick off a U.S.telecommunications trade show. A few weeks ago Bay Networks, based in Santa Clara, California, acknowledged that it had been in talks with Nortel, but said that no deal emerged. Nortel Chief Executive John Roth, who is keen on building networks which can handle both data and voice to anticipate burgeoning Internet use, has been floating the idea of buying Bay Networks past institutional investors, said a company observer. ''Basically they (Bay) fill out their data portfolio and they're mostly a voice company right now, and that's the reason that they're interested,'' Sarkar said. ''They've already made some strides there but they're possibly inspired to speed that up a little.'' Sprint Corp. (FON - news) laid out plans this week to create its own Internet-capable network. Sarkar added that historically, deals are made with an average 30 percent premium on top of a closing stock price. Bay last fell 0.25 to 30.63 on New York's bourse. Ascend rose 1.50 to 46.50 on Nasdaq. Sarkar added that Nortel seemed to be leaning toward Alameda, California-based Ascend. ''They felt that the business fundamentals were much better at Ascend. The other thing is Bay already has a relationship with (Nortel rival) Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU - news)'' Another brokerage had an analyst's report on Friday mentioning the possibility of a deal. ''They were definitely looking at a large acquisition. They didn't specify a time frame. And they didn't specify a name,'' said one analyst's colleague. Nortel shares rose C$1.85 to C$92.20 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday. ($1 equals $1.45 Canadian) biz.yahoo.com