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Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marcher who wrote (19460)	11/20/1998 11:57:00 PM
From: gbh	Respond to of 77400

Estimates: Cisco Negotiating to Acquire Control of VocalTec By Ronny Lifschitz, Las Vegas In the past few weeks, secret negotiations have been taking place between Cisco and Israeli company VocalTec over a sale deal. "Globes" has learned that Cisco wants to buy VocalTec for $130 million, whereas VocalTec is demanding $270 million. "Globes" has learned that negotiations towards the deal began two months ago, but at a certain stage they were temporarily broken off. Instead, the two companies signed a cooperation agreement. Sources close to the company said that signing a cooperation agreement was normal procedure in cases where negotiations are being conducted over a merger or acquisition. The same sources estimated that negotiations will be complete within, at most, the next couple of months, unless other potential buyers enter the picture. Related Items: Commentary: Look for AT&T in This Story VocalTec Share Quote From the Arena Archive: Interview with Elon Ganor (Nov. 9, 1998) IP Telephony - All Information on One Train (Nov. 12, 1998) In the last few weeks, VocalTec's share, traded on NASDAQ, has inexplicably risen. Last week, VocalTec founder and president Elon Ganor told "Globes" he had no explanation for the share's value. It could be that news of the negotiations leaked, causing the share price to rise. Meanwhile, a rumour was widespread among several Israelis at the Comdex exhibition that at least two telecom companies were joining the competition for VocalTec. Lucent's name was mentioned in this context. The cooperation agreement between VocalTec and Cisco was announced on November 11. It includes agreement on technological compatibility between Cisco and VocalTec's products. The two companies announced that their servers and network products would be made compatible so that they can be used in tandem on telecommunications networks constructed out of products of both of them. According to the announcement, initial field trials are expected to take place before the end of the current year. First sales are planned for the first half of 1999. VocalTec is one of the pioneers of Internet-phone technology, enabling the Internet infrastructure to be exploited for making international telephone calls. Recently, the company has been moving towards the telecommunications equipment producers' market. It has cooperation agreements with Cisco, Bay Networks, Tricom, Deutsche Telekom, and others. Among the rest, VocalTec has a cooperation agreement with ECI Telecom, including a know-how exchange agreement. The agreement is intended to enable ECI to enter the Internet protocol telephony market, including telephony on the Internet, and to enable VocalTec to upgrade its "ensemble" architecture to the standard of the large telecommunications infrastructures operated by the telecommunications companies. VocalTec CFO Yahal Zilka responded to the report: "VocalTec knows nothing of such negotiations. The story is complete fiction. In fact, VocalTec isn't at the Comdex exhibition, so it's hard for me to understand just who Cisco is talking to there." "Globes": Cisco is offering just $130 million. Zilka: "The price of the supposed deal, as you put it to me, shows that the report makes no sense. VocalTec's market value is currently about $150 million. Companies with leading technology are never sold for less than their market value." Are negotiations taking place for the acquisition of VocalTec by other companies? "We know of no talks whatsoever with other companies. Elon Ganor was interviewed two weeks ago in the "Globes" high tech supplement, and he was very forthright on this matter." Published by Israel's Business Arena on November 19, 1998 globes.co.il