Alcatel Ups U.S. Business with Acquisitions
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Alcatel has expanded its foothold in the  key North American market with the acquisition of a mobile  software provider and a conference technology business for $277  million.
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Alcatel SA   completed  its acquisition of Lucent Technologies Inc.  on Thursday,  creating one of the world's biggest suppliers of network  equipment for mobile phones and high-speed Internet.
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Alcatel  shareholders on  Thursday approved the French telecoms equipment provider's  all-share acquisition of U.S. rival Lucent , putting an  end to weeks of debates about the deal's merits.
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The $10.7 billion merger was approved despite the doubts of Alcatel investors over the financial health of their new American partner.
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Blockbuster growth continues for Latin America's largest wireless services operator.
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Alcatel CGEP.PA has expanded its  foothold in the key North American market with the acquisition  of a mobile software provider and a conference technology  business for $277 million.
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Stocks rose on Monday, boosted by takeover news in the telecommunications sector.
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Shareholders of Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. approved the companies' merger plansÂ Thursday, clearing one of the last hurdles to a mammoth consolidation in the communications equipment business.
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All handset vendors combined shipped  285 million cell phones in the July-September quarter, with  strong demand in Asia and Africa lifting sales 12 percent from  a year ago, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Thursday.
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Alcatel has signed a preliminary   agreement to buy Nortel's third generation UMTS cell phone   network unit for $320 million, aiming to achieve greater scale   amid cut-throat price competition.
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Alcatel plans to acquire US-based mobile infrastructure company Spatial Wireless in a deal valued at $250 million. The agreement gives Alcatel an avenue to expand in the US gear market.
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Cingular Wireless (Profile, Products, Articles) LLC announced Tuesday that it completed a $41 billion acquisition of AT&amp;T Wireless Services Inc.
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Building on a longstanding relationship, Alcatel (Quote, Chart) will help China Telecom deploy 1.3 million DSL (define) lines, the latest in a slew of recent industry deals from emerging markets.
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Freshly merged Alcatel-Lucent  is  stepping up job cuts to 12,500 after lurching into a fourth  quarter loss and forecast a first-quarter sales dip as tough  trading and uncertainties from the tie-up take their toll.
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Verizonâs wireless businesses added 2.3 million new customers in the quarter, the bulk of them on long-term contracts.
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(InfoWorld) - Merger and acquisition news from companies as diverse as Yahoo, Cognos, and MetroPCS Communications heated up IT investor interest this week, shoring up confidence in the sector even as credit-market concerns continued to buffet the stock exchanges. After wireless carrier MetroPCS proposed a merger valued at about $5.5 billion with rival Leap Wireless, its share price Tuesday spiked $1.36 to close at $28.65. Brokerage Jefferies & Co. Wednesday then upgraded its rating on the stock from "hold" to "buy," sparking another uptick in the company's share price. Though the merged company would have about 6.2 million customers, a far cry from the 50 million-plus subscriber base that market leaders like AT&T and Verizon have, the combined company would be the fifth largest in the U.S., with a national footprint. Meanwhile, investor faith in the beneficial effects of mergers was underscored by share-price increases in all the major acquiring companies this week. Often, the acquiring company stock takes a hit because acquisition costs are usually expected to dilute earnings for a while. Business performance software vendor Cognos Wednesday said it agreed toÂ pay $339 million for Applix, a developer of performance analysis software. The company has an aggressive plan to integrate Applix's products by early next year. Company shares jumped by $0.18 to close at $41.08 Wednesday, rising further on Thursday as brokerage JPMorgan raised its rating on the shares, saying that underlying demand for the Cognos' software and services is strong. JPMorgan also said that gross margins on product sales at Cognos should also benefit from the Applix acquisition. Yahoo meanwhile continues to pursue its strategy of scooping up companies in the online advertising market, WednesdayÂ announcing a $300 million purchase of BlueLithium. BlueLithium's banner advertising network should help expand Yahoo's ad reach. The news sparked shares to rise by $0.13 to close at $24.10. Also this week, IP-based communications technology company Telanetix announced it would buy VOIP company AccessLine Communications for up to $34.9 million in cash and stock, and OracleÂ continued its buying spree.Â Oracle snapped up Netsure Telecom, a provider of network intelligence and network data integrity software, andÂ Bridgestream, a maker of software that helps companies map employee responsibilities, for undisclosed amounts. The M&A news mirrors data on venture capital funding, which in the first half of the year hit its highest point since 2001, with IT taking a big share. Now, the latest MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on Thomson Financial data, shows that a growing percentage of those funds are coming not from pure venture-capital firms, but from operating companies such as manufacturers and IT vendors. A lion's share of this corporate VC funding is also going to IT businesses. For example, corporate VC funding amounted to $1.3 billion in 390 deals in the first half of 2007, representing 21.4 percent of all VC deals -- the highest percentage of corporate venture deals and dollars since 2001, according to the report. The biggest slice of the investment pie -- 20 percent -- was taken by software companies. Intel was the biggest corporate investor, plunking down $112.3 million in 42 deals. "Corporate venture capital deals are a good measure of confidence in IT," said Claudia Fan Munce, the Chairman of NVCA's Corporate Venture Board and managing director of IBM's Venture Capital Group. While pure venture capital companies need to make investments just to stay in business, operating companies like IT vendors don't have that particular sort of pressure, she noted. Corporate VC funding and M&A "allow companies to tap into innovative new technologies and business models," she said. Â
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NEW YORK, November 26  - Alltel Corporation (AT.NYS) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets from Cingular Wireless for $170 million in cash, while the two companies have agreed to swap partnership interests in