Rumors about the future of Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU) and now Siemens' enterprise businesses are swirling again this week with a Bloomberg report citing people close to the closed door talks the two companies are having about the future of these units.
Two weeks ago, a report emerged that Alcatel-Lucent was considering the sale of its enterprise unit, at a price of about $2.2 billion as an effort to increase its focus on its core wireless and wireline service provider business.
Meanwhile, Siemens' enterprise unit, which operates as a joint venture with Los Angeles-based Gores Group, is strongly considering an IPO for the unit.
News of Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent divesting their enterprise communications businesses shouldn't be much of a surprise. In addition to selling its stake in aerospace company Thales SA, Alcatel-Lucent sold its vacuum technology unit for $296.7 million, while Siemens decided in 2008 to completely leave the telecom business outside of its joint partnership with Nokia under the Nokia Siemens Networks venture.
However, neither Alcatel-Lucent nor Siemens are talking about their plans for their enterprise units.
For more:
- Bloomberg has this article
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