Guest Columnist

Is Juniper next?

The $34 billion merger of US-based Lucent Technologies and France`s Alcatel announced earlier this year could be the catalyst for further consolidation within the telecommunications equipment sector.

01 June 2006

The merger of Lucent and Alcatel has created a new and major trans-Atlantic organisation, a situation that bodes well for other similar deals. The history of success of merged European and US companies is a little suspect, to say the least, as evidenced by Concert, a joint venture company created in the late 1990s by British Telecommunications and AT&T that fell apart after only a few years.

Nevertheless, the major competitors of the new Alcatel/Lucent entity, i.e. Telefon AB LM Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens AG, may well be on the hunt for suitable prey at an affordable price. Juniper Networks is probably at the top of hit lists, with its market capitalisation of only about $10.5 billion.

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