Alcatel Nv

French Buying Rockwell Unit: Alcatel NV has agreed to buy a Dallas-based division of Rockwell International Corp. for $625 million, a move that analysts said would enhance the French telecommunications firm's position in the United States. Alcatel is buying Rockwell's Network Transmission Systems, a leading supplier of transmission systems for voice, image and data traffic. "The Rockwell acquisition gives us the possibility of becoming No. 2 (behind AT&T) in line transmission in the U.S.

Avanex Corp. said Monday that it has agreed to acquire the optical component businesses of both Alcatel and Corning Inc. for $67.4 million in stock, bolstering its position as a maker of components and subsystems for fiber-optic networks. The transaction calls for Alcatel to hold a 28% stake in Avanex and for Corning to hold a 17% stake. The figures are based on Avanex's Friday closing price of $1.12. Based on current share levels, Alcatel would receive about 35.

ITT Corp. has agreed to sell its 30% stake in the telecommunications manufacturing giant Alcatel NV for about $3.6 billion in cash and stock, officials announced Tuesday. The stake is being sold to Alcatel Alsthom SA, which already owns the rest of Alcatel. Alcatel Alsthom has interests in energy, transportation and communications. The deal ends ITT's involvement in the telephone industry. ITT said it will receive $2.6 billion in cash in three installments through 1994.

Telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel said it plunged into the red in the third quarter and warned of a full-year loss as it announced 10,000 more job cuts to counter a drop in demand. Chief Executive Serge Tchuruk also said the sector slowdown probably would worsen in the first half of 2002. Alcatel posted an operating loss of $195 million for the quarter, compared with an operating profit of $526 million a year ago, as revenue fell 18% to $5.08 billion.

Loral Corp. said Monday that it plans to sell a 49% interest in its newly acquired satellite division of Newport Beach-based Ford Aerospace Corp. to three European firms for $182 million. Loral, a New York-based defense electronics concern, will sell the minority interest in the Palo Alto-based Space Systems division to Aerospatiale Societe Nationale Industrielle of France, Alcatel NV of Belgium and Selenia Spazio SPA of Italy.

Loral Corp. said Monday that it plans to sell a 49% interest in Ford Aerospace Corp.'s satellite division to three European companies for $182 million. Loral, a New York-based defense electronics concern, will sell the minority interest in the Palo Alto-based Space Systems Division to Aerospatiale Societe Nationale Industrielle of France, Alcatel N.V. of Belgium and Selenia Spazio S.p.A. of Italy.

Xylan, the Calabasas company that makes computer networking switches, will be acquired by French telecom giant Alcatel in a $2-billion cash deal that underscores the unrelenting demand for networks designed to carry both voice and data traffic. The $37-per-share offer announced Tuesday represents a 76% premium over Xylan's share price of $19.88 last week, before merger rumors began pushing its stock up. Xylan shares soared $8.81--or 33%--to close at $35.

Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel said it would cut 2,500 more jobs in its U.S. operations and consolidate some of its facilities in response to an extended slowdown in spending by its phone and Internet company customers. The bulk of the layoffs will be at the French company's U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas, and in Raleigh, N.C., said Brad Burns, senior vice president of communications for Alcatel Americas. About 10 employees will lose their jobs in Alcatel's Petaluma, Calif.

Alcatel (ALA) Jim: Buy Mike: Buy * Mike: Alcatel is the second-largest French company in terms of market capitalization, Jim, and here's this week's puzzler: Can you identify any other French enterprise of such size? Jim: Uh . . . Mike: I thought not. Jim: Actually, this is the first French stock we've done, no? Mike: Well, most Americans probably don't think of the French as global industrial leaders. Jim: Let's just say it's a good thing Alcatel doesn't make cars.

ITT Wraps Up Sale of Stake in Alcatel: The corporation said it completed the sale of its 30% share in the French firm to joint venture partner Alcatel Alsthom. The New York-based conglomerate said that in return for transferring its 14,048,561 shares in Alcatel, it received $1 billion in cash, plus 9.1 million new shares of Alcatel Alsthom. It will receive an additional $766.8 million in July, 1993, and another $816.6 million a year later.

Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel said it would cut 2,500 more jobs in its U.S. operations and consolidate some of its facilities in response to an extended slowdown in spending by its phone and Internet company customers. The bulk of the layoffs will be at the French company's U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas, and in Raleigh, N.C., said Brad Burns, senior vice president of communications for Alcatel Americas. About 10 employees will lose their jobs in Alcatel's Petaluma, Calif.

Lengthy merger talks between struggling Lucent Technologies Inc. and Paris-based Alcatel collapsed Tuesday after the two communications equipment makers couldn't agree on crucial matters such as who would control the combined firm. The abrupt end to the potential $22-billion to $25-billion deal came at the conclusion of intense negotiations in Paris that lasted through the long weekend.

French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel continued negotiations over the weekend to buy floundering U.S. rival Lucent Technologies Inc. for about $32 billion and an agreement could be announced Wednesday, sources familiar with the situation said Monday. The two equipment manufacturers, who declined to comment, held negotiations throughout the long holiday weekend and worked to settle final details, sources said.

Rumors suggesting that French telecommunications equipment giant Alcatel may soon buy troubled U.S. equipment maker Lucent Technologies prompted investors to savage Alcatel's stock Friday, in a sign that the match is far from ideal, analysts said. "I don't think the shareholders would approve the deal. [Alcatel] is still profitable and showing growth," whereas Lucent is in deep trouble, said David Heger, an analyst with AG Edwards & Sons.

Electronic commerce software giant Ariba Inc. led a pack of at least a dozen other Internet companies in issuing profit warnings Monday, signaling that the long-awaited recovery of the tech sector may take longer to arrive than previously thought. Analysts hoping for a rebound in late summer or early fall said the uniformly poor results from the first three months of the year prompted them to push back those estimates to year-end.

Three tenants signed leases valued at more than $39 million for 410,000 square feet of office and industrial space at the Conejo Spectrum, a 100-acre business park under development by Los Angeles- based Investment Development Services at Rancho Conejo Boulevard and Lawrence Drive in Newbury Park.

Alcatel (ALA) Jim: Buy Mike: Buy * Mike: Alcatel is the second-largest French company in terms of market capitalization, Jim, and here's this week's puzzler: Can you identify any other French enterprise of such size? Jim: Uh . . . Mike: I thought not. Jim: Actually, this is the first French stock we've done, no? Mike: Well, most Americans probably don't think of the French as global industrial leaders. Jim: Let's just say it's a good thing Alcatel doesn't make cars.

As companies around the world race to dominate the communications equipment business, investors have picked Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks and the ambitious Cisco Systems as the clear front-runners. But there's also a promising sleeper in the mix: Alcatel of France. The once-stodgy phone equipment company in Paris has been gaining on its North American rivals, thanks to a survival strategy that is steadily doing the unthinkable: Americanizing the prized French firm.