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Alcatel Lucent is considering selling its telecoms business for $1.5bn to $2bn, and HP, Microsoft and Ericsson are being touted as potential buyers, according to reports.
The enterprise telecoms division of Alcatel sells a combination of hardware and software used in offices and call centres. Despite being profitable, the division accounts for around 10 per cent of overall revenue, according to the The Wall Street Journal.
HP looks to be the front-runner. The firm has a strategic partnership with Alcatel-Lucent and the purchase would provide it with voice technology. Profit from a sale is likely to be reinvested in its cloud computing and telecoms business.
The speculation comes as Alcatel is looking to rebuild market share after a largely unsuccessful merger with Lucent in 2006. The firm has the fourth biggest telecoms market share behind Avaya, Cisco and Siemens.
Alcatel-Lucent posted revenues of €16bn in 2010 and shares have risen sharply in the first quarter of 2011 to €4.15.
V3.co.uk contacted Alcatel-Lucent, but the firm declined to comment on any sale.
18 Apr 2011
