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Technology Stocks : Ciena (CIEN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pass pass who wrote (3233)	9/17/1998 12:33:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12623

9/16/98 Dow Jones News Serv. 16:48:00 Dow Jones News Service Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Wednesday, September 16, 1998 Ciena-Rival's Tactics -2:Ciena Says Anonymous Message False On Wednesday afternoon Ciena confirmed the Washington Post's report that it had traced to a Lucent facility an anonymous e-mail alleging, among other things, that Ciena had falsified the results of tests on its equipment. Daniel McCurdy, Ciena vice president for marketing and strategic transitions, stopped short of alleging that the e-mail, which went out at 3:47 a.m. on Aug. 28, was sent by Lucent or a Lucent employee. He declined to comment on whom the company might suspect of sending it. "We have some suspicions," he said. He said the allegations in the e-mail are "categorically false." Lucent has not yet been contacted by Ciena about the e-mail, said Bill Price, a spokesman for the Murray Hill, N.J., telecommunications equipment giant. Lucent is "looking into it," Price said. "We would obviously not condone such conduct." McCurdy said the e-mail, which was sent to Tom Scottino, a spokesman for Tellabs, was so sophisticated that it is unlikely a lay person could have written it. Ciena said two sources have verified that the e-mail came from a Lucent address in New Jersey, which he wouldn't identify. He said Ciena is looking into "other activities that we believe cannot be coincidental," but again declined to give details. He said the company currently has no reason to think companies other than Lucent might have been involved, but added that the investigation is far from complete. "I hope the conclusion we come to is that there was no ill intent," he said. (MORE) DOW JONES NEWS 09-16-98

To: pass pass who wrote (3233)	9/17/1998 12:37:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12623

9/16/98 Dow Jones News Serv. 13:31:00 Dow Jones News Service Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Wednesday, September 16, 1998 Ciena Says A Rival's Shady Tactics May Have Undercut Merger By Shawn Young NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Ciena Corp. (CIEN) thinks its failed merger with Tellabs Inc. (TLAB) may have been torpedoed in part by an unidentified competitor's "legally questionable" maneuvers. In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, Ciena said it is "accumulating evidence that a competitor may have engaged in targeted and legally questionable activities in order to undermine the company's market position as well as the proposed merger with Tellabs." The allegations in the filing were first reported in Wednesday's Washington Post. The two telecommunications equipment makers scuttled their planned merger Monday after unexpected changes in Ciena's prospects first forced the renegotiation of the deal, then made it entirely untenable. Ciena, of Linthicum, Md., did not say in its filing which of its competitors it suspects of using underhanded tactics to weaken it by undercutting its merger plans, nor does it say what tactics were used. "We're not prepared to discuss names," company spokesman Denny Bilter said Wednesday. He said the company's investigation is still under way. In addition to airing suspicion that a competitor played dirty tricks, the company said investors with an interest in seeing Ciena's stock fall influenced media coverage of the unraveling deal. "Additionally, the company believes, certain of the media coverage was significantly influenced by orchestrated activities of one or more short- sellers, and of a competitor of the company," Ciena said in the filing, which does not name the media, the competitor or the short-sellers. The company said the impact of competitors' activities, legitimate and otherwise, may have had a significant effect on it and may continue to do so. Companies mentioned in the filing as competitors, but not singled out as suspects, include Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU), Northern Telecom Ltd. (NT); Siemens AG; Pirelli SpA; L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERICY); NEC Corp. (NIPNY); Alcatel (ALA) and Pirelli SpA, whose winning of a contract with Digital Teleport Inc. dealt the final blow to the Tellabs-Ciena deal. (MORE) DOW JONES NEWS 09-16-98 01:31 PM