Alcatel buys Lucent. Combined company to become US$25 billion supplier

PARIS and MURRAY HILL NJ – Wireless and wireline equipment manufacturers Lucent and Alcatel announced today that the two companies are merging. The combined company will have revenues of about US$25 billion based on 2005 results. The combination will enable new growth opportunities and "identifies annual pre-tax cost synergies of approximately US$1.7 billion within three years," says the press release. "This combination is about a strategic fit between two experienced and well-respected global communications leaders who together will become the global leader in convergence," said Serge Tchuruk, chairman and CEO of Paris-based Alcatel, who will become non-executive chairman of the...