Fergie's Tech Blog

Lucent-Alcatel Merger Talks Raise Issue of Security

Vikas Bajaj and Andrew Ross Sorkin write in The New York Times:

As merger talks between Lucent and Alcatel continue to advance, attention is turning to the role Lucent's fast-growing work for military and intelligence agencies may play in securing government approval for the trans-Atlantic deal.

With a long history of contributing to military efforts like ballistic missile technology and submarine sonar, the famed Bell Labs unit of Lucent is widely expected to become a focal point when the deal is presented to regulators in Washington for approval.

Though the companies have said that they are discussing a "merger of equals," experts say the deal will probably be treated as an acquisition of an American company by a foreign entity because Alcatel of France is one and a half times the size of Lucent and the combined company will probably be based in Paris.

posted by Fergie @ 3/28/2006 06:33:00 AM