Nokia is to purchase Alcatel-Lucent in an all-share deal that values its smaller French rival at 15.6 billion euros ($16.6 billion), building up its telecom equipment business to compete with market leader Ericsson.The deal will redefine a sector suffering weak growth prospects and pressure from low-cost Chinese players Huawei and ZTE.With about 114,000 employees and sales of around 26 billion euros, the combined company will rank a strong second in mobile equipment, with global market share of 35 percent, behind Ericsson at 40 percent and ahead of Huawei's 20 percent, according to Bernstein Research.The new Nokia will have stronger exposure to the important North American market, with major AT&T and Verizon contracts.
Alcatel Lucent SA is a France based company that proposes solutions used by service providers, businesses, and governments worldwide to offer voice, data, and video services to their own customers. Shares of ALU fell by 18.46% or $-0.91/share to $4.02. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $2.28 and as high as $4.96. On average, 8453740 shares of ALU exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 82973841.
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) is an information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Shares of ERIC fell by 1.01% or $-0.13/share to $12.76. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $11.20 and as high as $13.28. On average, 3686070 shares of ERIC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 13579391.
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