Lucent Technologies Inc has snapped up ATM wide area networking equipment supplier Yurie Systems Inc for $1bn in cash, or $35 per share. Landover, Maryland-based Yurie, whose shares are traded on Nasdaq, is already an OEM customer of Lucent, having signed with the Murray Hill New Jersey company last August to supply the Yurie LDR200 and LDR50 networking products under the Lucent name. Yurie also has a three-year OEM deal with Bay Networks Inc. The tender offer will start not later than April 30 and close by May 28, after which any shares left over will be sold on the market. The boards of both companies have approved the deal and Yurie says shareholders holding more than 50% of the company’s stock have already agreed to the offer. It is expected to close by the end of this quarter. Yurie’s shares closed up $3.25, or 10.3% at $34.75 on 4.5 million shares traded. Lucent, like the rest of the technology sector yesterday, closed down $1.50, or 2.0% at $71.875 on its average daily volume of 6.9 million shares traded. Jeong Kim, chairman and chief executive of Yurie joined Lucent as president of carrier networks within the data networking systems group. Provided the acquisition closes this quarter, it will result in a one-time charge for acquired in-process research and development for this, Lucent’s third fiscal quarter, and the company expects the purchase to be dilutive to earnings for the first 12 months of operation. In order to tie them in, certain key Yurie management players have agreed to invest a portion of their proceeds in Lucent stock and not sell it for at least three years. Yurie went public in February last year, and Lucent span out of AT&T two years ago.
