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Technology Stocks : Lucent Technologies (LU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rainy_Day_Woman who wrote (5261)	12/22/1998 1:58:00 AM
From: lkj	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21876

Hi all, Lucent has been very quite about the big acquisition that everyone has been expecting. At the current price level, pooling of interest is a very powerful tool. Though most of us believe that ASND is the most logical candidate, but it's hard to ignore Newbridge when we look at its recent activities. Recently, Newbridge has sold its stake in the IP telephony company Vienna to Nokia. In September, it sold its stake in Advanced Computer Communications to L.M. Ericsson. In early December, it sold its majority stake in wave-division multiplexer developer Cambrian Systems Inc. to Nortel Networks. I find it odd that NN is selling its stake in an IP telephony company and a DWDM company. Both technologies are vital for NN's future growth. Of course, unless NN is ready to be sold to someone other than Nokia, Ericsson, or Nortel. This makes a Lucent--Newbridge merger very possible. Hmmmmm..................... Does anyone know what Advanced Computer Communications makes? Regards, Khan (12/21/98, 10:05 a.m. EDT) KANATA, Ontario — The acquisition of Vienna Systems Inc. by Nokia Inc. last Friday (Dec. 18) for $90 million could change the focus of Vienna's business to a wireless emphasis, while further streamlining the business plan of Newbridge Networks Inc., the WAN equipment manufacturer that formerly owned 30 percent of Vienna. Vienna, a specialist in telephony equipment packetizing voice over the Internet Protocol, will be shifting the bulk of its development effort to serve IP applications over wireless networks, operating as part of Nokia's wireless business unit. Vienna products intended for wireline telephony carriers and cable TV operators, such as the IP Shuttle, will continue to be sold through Newbridge and by Nokia, but with a change. "Clearly our number one priority will be using Vienna's products for our wireless services strategy," said Pekka Lundmark, vice president of Nokia's wireless business unit. For Newbridge (Kanata, Ontario), the sale of the Vienna investment to Nokia represents the third major selloff of an “affiliate” stake by the Canadian company this year. In September, Newbridge sold its minority stake in Advanced Computer Communications (ACC) to L.M. Ericsson. In early December, the company sold its majority stake in wave-division multiplexer developer Cambrian Systems Inc. to Nortel Networks. Alan Lutz, chief executive of Newbridge, said it's all part of an effort to expand Newbridge's fiscal war chest, and to achieve a goal of having $5 billion Canadian in the bank by the end of 2002. The ACC stake was sold because ACC was only a small player in the router market, Lutz said. In the case of Cambrian, Newbridge felt it was too big a task to move directly into optical networking. But for Vienna, the selloff decision was driven more by the desire to work directly with Nokia. Lundmark said that the pact Nokia has reached with Newbridge is far more than a resale and marketing agreement. Nokia and Newbridge will collaborate on a variety of development efforts to merge wireline and wireless broadband networks, he said. Continued joint work on Vienna's current products will be the first such project. Nokia plans to retain the bulk of Vienna's 180 employees, and to retain the company's R&D offices in Ontario, British Columbia, and Ithaca, N.Y. T. Kent Elliott, chief executive of Vienna, said he intends to stay with Nokia, where he will report to Lundmark's wireless group.