The simmering talks on radical realignment of the European computer industry are boiling up, and hard on the heels of suggestions that international partners may now be ready to move in on Nixdorf Computer AG and take shareholdings in the company (CI No 1,218), comes strong indications from Milan that AT&T Co is close to agreement on the sale of its 22.3% holding in Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, which is currently valued at some $727m. Chairman Carlo de Benedetti is expected to buy back the shares, paying part in cash, part with a 15% stake in his Cie Industriale Riunite industrial holding company, which also holds 22.3% of Olivetti. The holding company is then expected to sell some of the AT&T shares on to another European partner, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the current favourite is Siemens AG, although STC Plc and Bull SA are also in the frame. Olivetti is majoring on Unix these days and is currently a member of Unix International, while Siemens and Bull are both members of its bitter rival, the Open Software Foundation, so an alliance with either would point up the absurdity of the schism in the Unix world. A 4.3% rise in Olivetti’s share price this week, not justified by fundamentals, fuels speculation that the deal will come soon.
