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Technology Stocks : BAY Ntwks (under House) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wallace Rivers who wrote (6373)	6/10/1998 8:26:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6980

Northern Telecom CEO Says Any Acquisitions Will Likely Be Small June 10, 1998 6:05 PM By Shawn Young, Staff Reporter ATLANTA -(Dow Jones)- The president and chief executive of Northern Telecom Ltd. is sure the Canadian telecommunications equipment giant will continue to make acquisitions, but he isn't promising any jaw-droppers. John A. Roth declined to comment about speculation that his company (NT) might make a play for Bay Networks Inc. (BAY). "You've seen us acquiring smaller companies, and that's more of what you can expect Northern Telecom to do," Roth told a small group of reporters at the Supercomm '98 telecommunications industry convention here. He said Nortel isn't ruling out a blockbuster. "It's a matter of making sure that if we do something big, it's the right thing," Roth said. "We're continuing to look at how to round out our portfolio," he added. The company has done well by buying small, cutting-edge firms and bringing their products into the big time - and it is likely to keep doing that, Roth said. Acquisition is the rage lately among telecommunications equipment makers, as it has been among the phone companies they serve. Nortel's biggest competitor, Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) has been on a shopping spree lately as it targets the data-networking market. There were three big telecommunications equipment mergers announced last week, when Tellabs Inc. (TLAB) agreed to buy Ciena Corp. (CIEN) for $7 billion; Alcatel Alsthom (ALA) staked a claim on DSC Communications Corp. (DIGI) and World Access Inc. (WAXS) agreed to merge with Telco Systems Inc. (TELC). There has been talk that Nortel might do well to go after Bay before October, when restrictions expire that now bar Lucent from using pooling of interests accounting for acquisitions. Pooling of interests would allow Lucent to make bigger purchases. "I don't think it would be right to get stampeded into doing something foolish," Roth said. He said Nortel is doing well and is less vulnerable than many people think to difficulties in Asian markets. Troubled parts of Asia and Australia account for only about 3% of Nortel's revenue, Roth said. He declined to comment about whether the company expects to meet analysts' earnings expectations. -Shawn Young; 201-938-5248 Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.