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

To: Andy H who wrote (60120)	2/24/1999 8:05:00 AM
From: polarisnh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

Ascend To Sell Last Of Non-Telecom Stratus Assets By Duncan Martell PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Ascend Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND - news), which is being acquired by Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news), Tuesday said it sold the last of the non-telecommunications assets of Stratus Computer Inc. as the two companies gird for battle with chief rival Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news) Baker Capital Corp., a private investment group, will buy S2 Systems, a maker of electronic commerce software systems, for about $25 million, an Ascend spokesman said. Once the roughly $20 billion acquisition of Ascend closes early this summer, Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent will have the technology it needs to sell equipment to telecommunications companies as voice, data and video converge on one network. Lucent and Cisco, already the largest maker of data networking equipment, will then vie for the No. 1 spot in selling the new gear to companies such as AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) and others. Analysts say either Lucent and Cisco will rank No. 1 and No. 2 in that new market, but it is too soon to say which will emerge as top dog. Ascend, which agreed in January to be bought by Lucent in what is the largest-ever technology deal, bought the struggling Stratus in October for $822 million for its software that helps run telephone networks. At first, the deal puzzled analysts and investors, because Stratus was known primarily for its so-called fault-tolerant computers that are designed never to break down. Analysts later praised the deal, noting that Stratus' SS7 technology was the crown jewel in the acquisition. Cisco has formed a partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news), which has its own SS7 technology to develop the gear for next-generation networks. And 3Com Corp., the No. 2 data networking company, has a long-standing partnership with Siemens, the German industrial giant. "Ascend has proven itself to be a market leader, in not only technology, but growth strategy and business development, as well," said Paul Johnson, an analyst at BancBoston Robertson Stephens. Already, Ascend has shipped its Ascend SS7 Gateway, which it says is the first commercially available standards-based product that removes congestion on public switched telephone networks caused by burgeoning Internet traffic. On Feb. 8, Ascend agreed to sell TCAM Systems, a developer of software for the financial industry, to Sweden-based OM Technology. In January, it sold its 50 percent interest in Stratus' financial software joint venture Astria to France-based Altos. Earlier in January, it agreed to sell the fault-tolerant computer business to Investcorp, the investment group.