Alcatel and Lucent Announce Amendment and Extension of Consent Solicitation
November 27 2006 - 11:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
- Lucent's 2.75% Series A Convertible Senior Debentures due 2023
PARIS, and MURRAY HILL, N.J., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and Lucent Technologies
(NYSE:LU) today amended their joint solicitation
statement/prospectus, dated November 14, 2006. Under the amended
terms, Lucent will pay a one-time consent fee only to holders of
its 2.75% Series A Convertible Senior Debentures due 2023 and 2.75%
Series B Convertible Senior Debentures due 2025 who consent to the
terms of the joint consent solicitation. For each $1,000 in
principal amount of each series of debentures for which consents
are received, consenting holders will receive the product of $7.50
multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the aggregate
principal amount of debentures of each series outstanding on the
expiration date, as defined below, and the denominator of which is
the aggregate principal amount of debentures of each series for
which Alcatel and Lucent received and accepted consents. In
addition, Alcatel and Lucent have extended the expiration date of
the revised joint consent solicitation until 5 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time (EST) on Friday, December 1, 2006 (the "expiration
date"). All holders of the debentures who have previously delivered
consents do not need to redeliver such consents, although they must
sign certain tax forms to receive the consent fee without U.S.
federal backup withholding. Alcatel has filed a supplement to the
joint solicitation statement/prospectus, which reflects the
aforementioned changes. Alcatel and Lucent advise all holders of
the debentures to review the section entitled "U.S. Federal Income
Tax Considerations," which has been amended and restated to reflect
important considerations respecting the U.S. federal income tax
consequences of the consent solicitation as it is currently
structured. All other terms of the joint consent solicitation
statement/prospectus, dated November 14, 2006, remain applicable,
including Alcatel's obligation to provide its full and
unconditional guaranty, which is unsecured and subordinated to
senior debt, regardless of whether a holder delivered a consent
prior to the expiration date. Holders of the debentures can obtain
copies of the supplement to the consent solicitation
statement/prospectus from D.F. King & Co., the Information
Agent, at +1 (888) 887-0082 (U.S. toll-free) or, for banks and
brokers, +1 (212) 269-5550. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. is acting
as the Solicitation Agent for the consent solicitation and can be
contacted at +1 (877) 696-BEAR (toll-free). This press release does
not constitute a solicitation of consents with respect to the
Debentures. The offer to guarantee and joint consent solicitation
are made solely by means of an Offer to Guarantee and Joint Consent
Solicitation Statement, dated November 14, 2006, Post Effective
Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form 3 filed by
Alcatel today, and related materials. About Alcatel Alcatel
provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers,
Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice,
data and video applications to their customers or employees.
Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband
networks, applications and services, to help its partners and
customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO
13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more
than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the
Internet: http://www.alcatel.com/ About Lucent Lucent Technologies
designs and delivers the systems, services and software that drive
next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs
research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility,
optical, software, data and voice networking technologies, as well
as services, to create new revenue-generating opportunities for its
customers, while enabling them to quickly deploy and better manage
their networks. Lucent's customer base includes communications
service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide. For more
information on Lucent Technologies, which has headquarters in
Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com/. This news
release contains statements regarding the proposed transaction
between Lucent and Alcatel, the expected timetable for completing
the transaction, future financial and operating results, benefits
and synergies of the proposed transaction and other statements
about Lucent and Alcatel managements' future expectations, beliefs,
goals, plans or prospects that are based on current expectations,
estimates, forecasts and projections about Lucent and Alcatel and
the combined company, as well as Lucent's, Alcatel's and the
combined company's future performance and the industries in which
Lucent and Alcatel operate and the combined company will operate,
in addition to managements' assumptions. Words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "seeks," "estimates," variations of such words and
similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements which are not statements of historical facts. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance
and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are
difficult to assess. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may
differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are based
upon a number of important factors including, among others: the
ability to consummate the proposed transaction; difficulties and
delays in obtaining regulatory approvals for the proposed
transaction; difficulties and delays in achieving synergies and
cost savings; potential difficulties in meeting conditions set
forth in the definitive merger agreement entered into by Lucent and
Alcatel; fluctuations in the telecommunications market; the
pricing, cost and other risks inherent in long-term sales
agreements; exposure to the credit risk of customers; reliance on a
limited number of contract manufacturers to supply products we
sell; the social, political and economic risks of our respective
global operations; the costs and risks associated with pension and
postretirement benefit obligations; the complexity of products
sold; changes to existing regulations or technical standards;
existing and future litigation; difficulties and costs in
protecting intellectual property rights and exposure to
infringement claims by others; and compliance with environmental,
health and safety laws. For a more complete list and description of
such risks and uncertainties, refer to Lucent's annual report on
Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2005 and quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended December 31, 2005, March
31, 2006 and June 30, 2006, and proxy statement dated August 7,
2006 and Alcatel's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended
December 31, 2005, as amended as well as other filings by Lucent
and Alcatel with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC"). Except as required under the U.S. federal securities laws
and the rules and regulations of the SEC, each of Lucent and
Alcatel disclaims any intention or obligation to update any
forward-looking statements after the distribution of this news
release, whether as a result of new information, future events,
developments, changes in assumptions or otherwise. DATASOURCE:
Lucent Technologies CONTACT: Alcatel Press Contacts, Regine
Coqueran, +33-(0)1-40-76-49-24, ; Alcatel Investor Relations,
Pascal Bantegnie, +33-(0)1-40-76-52-20, ; Maria Alcon,
+33-(0)1-40-76-15-17, ; Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane,
+1-703-668-7016, ; Lucent Press Contacts, Joan Campion,
+1-908-582-5832 (office), +1-201-761-9384 (mobile), ; MaryLou
Ambrus, +1-908-582-8501 (office), +1-908-239-6654 (mobile), ;
Lucent Investor Relations, John DeBono, +1-908-582-7793 (office), ;
Dina Fede, +1-908-582-0366 (office), Web site:
http://www.lucent.com/ http://www.alcatel.com/
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