Lucent, Alcatel seek US approval of merger

Lucent Technologies Inc on August 23 said that it filed a formal notice to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States seeking approval for its $10.4 billion purchase by France's Alcatel.
Alcatel also began a series of meetings with top investors to secure backing for the deal at shareholder meetings on September 7. The value of the deal has dropped about 23 percent since it was announced in April amid a drop in the equipment companies' stock prices.
The deal has passed anti-trust scrutiny in the United States and Europe but the review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is critical. CFIUS, a 12-member interagency panel led by the US Treasury, must approve foreign acquisitions of US companies.
National security concerns have scuttled some deals, such as last year's bid by China's state-controlled CNOOC Ltd for oil and gas company Unocal Corp. Other deals have won government clearance after the companies agreed to security-related concessions.
In a move to quell worries about the deal's effect on national security, Lucent has agreed to create a separate US subsidiary that would be run by Americans and would handle sensitive government contracts. Lucent's government work includes an advanced communications system for the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon's technology incubator.
Lucent's crucial research and development arm, Bell Labs, has launched inventions ranging from transistors and lasers to cellular telephone technology, data networking and communications satellites.
Some US senators previously expressed concerns about the deal, saying it could threaten US national security or lead to job losses in their states. Some also have said they wanted more information about Alcatel's long-standing business relationships with Iran and Libya.
Alcatel upgraded Tehran's telecoms networks in a contract it won in 2001, built Iran's first high-speed DSL Internet network and now provides communications systems for gas plants there.
Most CFIUS reviews last for 30 days or less, but in some cases, such as acquisitions of sensitive technologies like telecommunications equipment, the review can be expanded into an investigation of up to another 45 days. Lucent declined to comment on the date of the CFIUS filing.