Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. have announced today a merger between the two telecommunications equipment makers in which France based Alcatel will purchase US based Lucent in order to form a major new competitor to telecommunications industry giant Cisco Systems Inc. The new company, whose name will be decided at a later date, will be headed by the current Lucent CEO Patricia Russo. It will be based in Paris and will have estimated annual sales of $25 billion while providing $1.7 billion in total savings within 3 years.
Of course as with most corporate mergers there are talks of job cuts and this merger is no different. Initial plans indicate that approximately 10 percent (roughly 8,800) will be cut from the total combined roster of about 88,000 employees and will include cuts from both Alcatel and Lucent.
View: Alcatel Announcement View: Lucent Announcement
News source: JournalNow.com / Associated Press
