Tellabs

Shares in Ciena Corp. fell 15 percent yesterday after it announced that its shareholders won't vote on its $3.94 billion merger with Tellabs Inc. until mid-November.The Linthicum-based telecommunications equipment maker's shares fell $5.1563 to close at $28.4608. Shares in Lisle, Ill.-based Tellabs, which also set its shareholder vote for mid-November, fell $2.75 to close at $43.75.The companies said setting the vote for November will allow time for shareholders and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to review the new terms.

Tellabs Inc., the nation's largest maker of telecommunications equipment, said yesterday that it will acquire privately held Salix Technologies Inc., a Gaithersburg-based maker of Internet switching equipment, for $300 million in stock.Brian Jackman, president of Global Systems and Technology at Tellabs, said the Salix acquisition, is "highly strategic" for his company.The deal will enable Illinois-based Tellabs to provide telecommunications customers with switching technology that delivers voice, fax, Internet and other services without the cost of adding new mainframe switching equipment.

Tellabs Inc. and Ciena Corp. said yesterday they will move forward with their merger, but Tellabs will pay about $4 billion for the maker of telecommunications equipment -- not the $7.1 billion the companies had agreed to in June.The drop in price reflected the loss in value of Ciena's shares after AT&T Corp. announced Aug. 22 it was no longer interested in buying the Linthicum company's technology. Under the renegotiated deal each 0.8 share of Tellabs stock will be exchanged for a Ciena share.

Shares of Ciena Corp., the top seller of equipment to boost phone-network capacity, fell 10 percent yesterday, one day after the company warned that price cuts might lead to losses for two quarters.Ciena fell $1.75 to $15.625. The Linthicum-based company has lost more than 80 percent of its market value since July.Once far ahead of rivals in selling products that improve phone networks, Ciena is losing business to Lucent Technologies Inc., Alcatel SA and Pirelli SpA, which are cutting prices to gain market share.

It's been a bad week for Ciena Corp., but the good news for the Linthicum-based company may be that there has been no news from its potential partner.Ever since its shareholder vote to approve its merger with Tellabs Inc. was postponed last Friday, its stock has continued to decline, and it has been named in two shareholder lawsuits filed yesterday and Wednesday that claim Ciena misled investors.Tellabs' board of directors met Tuesday, but the company has declined to comment. Analysts say the silence means that there is some fast and furious negotiating going on between Tellabs and Ciena as they try to mend the deal.

The collapse of the planned acquisition of Ciena Corp. comes at the end of a summer in which little went right for the Linthicum-based telecommunications equipment company.At the start of the season, things looked sunny for Ciena. On June 3, the company announced that it would be bought by a highly successful Illinois firm, Tellabs Inc., in a stock swap initially valued at about $7 billion. Ciena's stock rose strongly in the weeks following the announcement, hitting an all-time closing high of $88.625 on July 20.Then Ciena got caught in a hurricane of bad news, a seemingly endless series of setbacks that sent Ciena stock plunging and, analysts said, ruined the Ciena-Tellabs acquisition.

Tellabs Inc., the nation's largest maker of telecommunications equipment, said yesterday that it will acquire privately held Salix Technologies Inc., a Gaithersburg-based maker of Internet switching equipment, for $300 million in stock.Brian Jackman, president of Global Systems and Technology at Tellabs, said the Salix acquisition, is "highly strategic" for his company.The deal will enable Illinois-based Tellabs to provide telecommunications customers with switching technology that delivers voice, fax, Internet and other services without the cost of adding new mainframe switching equipment.

Ciena Corp.'s stock rose 30 percent yesterday after the head of Tellabs Inc. said his company hasn't ruled out the possibility of making another bid to buy the Linthicum-based company.The two telecommunications equipment makers had planned to merge this summer, but the $7 billion deal was renegotiated and then scrapped after Ciena suffered a series of financial setbacks that severely eroded the company's stock value.Asked in a CNBC interview yesterday if buying Ciena still held any interest for him, Tellabs President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Birck said, "Well, I would not say that it does not."

Tellabs Inc., the telecommunications equipment maker that is buying Linthicum-based Ciena Corp., reported strong increases in quarterly earnings and sales yesterday. Shares of Tellabs and Ciena rose sharply.For its fiscal second quarter, which ended July 3, Tellabs reported net income of $119.04 million, or 63 cents per diluted share. Excluding the effects of a one-time stock sale and an asset write-off, Tellabs had $86.3 million in net income, or 46 cents per share.In the similar period of 1997, Tellabs had $58.76 million in net income, or 32 cents per diluted share.

After losing 24 percent of its value Friday, Ciena Corp. stock staged a modest rally yesterday. Shares of the Linthicum maker of telecommunications equipment closed at $56.125, up $2.Analysts said the stock will stabilize and that the company's pending acquisition by Tellabs Inc. is likely to be approved.Ciena's dive last week came after the company released disappointing earnings estimates for its fiscal third quarter.The company said a $25 million order had been delayed, and that another customer had been given a price cut in return for purchase commitments.

Ciena Corp.'s stock continued to claw its way back from the abyss yesterday, gaining 26 percent amid a rebound in technology stocks and persistent rumors that the company might be a takeover target.The Linthicum-based telecommunications equipment company's stock rose $3.1875 to close at $15.4375, its highest closing price since Sept. 22. Ciena was the most heavily traded stock in U.S. markets yesterday, with 31.05 million shares changing hands.There is speculation that Tellabs Inc., a Lisle, Ill.-based maker of telecommunications equipment, might renew its attempt to purchase Ciena.

Ciena Corp.'s stock rose 30 percent yesterday after the head of Tellabs Inc. said his company hasn't ruled out the possibility of making another bid to buy the Linthicum-based company.The two telecommunications equipment makers had planned to merge this summer, but the $7 billion deal was renegotiated and then scrapped after Ciena suffered a series of financial setbacks that severely eroded the company's stock value.Asked in a CNBC interview yesterday if buying Ciena still held any interest for him, Tellabs President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Birck said, "Well, I would not say that it does not."

Ciena Corp. said yesterday that someone at one of its fiercest rival's facilities sent an anonymous e-mail message to its proposed merger partner, falsely accusing the Linthicum telecommunications equipment company of covering up product flaws.The company said yesterday that with the help of "an independent source," it traced the e-mail, which was sent to Tellabs Inc., to a Lucent Technologies Inc. facility in Murray Hill, N.J."We have verified this and an independent source has also verified this.

In just over a month, Ciena Corp. has suffered disappointing earnings estimates, lost contracts and the collapse of its planned acquisition by Tellabs Inc. Now, the Linthicum telecommunications equipment company is warning that more difficult times may be ahead.In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ciena said its recent setbacks may hurt future sales. In addition, the company said, the expense of marketing its products to regional Bell companies and other potential customers could cause the company's earnings in the near future to "moderate or even decline, even if revenues were to increase, which is not likely in the near term."

Ciena Corp. and Tellabs Inc. called off their plans to merge yesterday, conceding the improbability that shareholders would approve the nearly $4 billion deal.Michael J. Birck, president and chief executive of Tellabs, said the acquisition was called off in light of Ciena's worsening financial outlook."We looked at the revised Ciena prospects and factored in the sentiment in the market. We said this would probably not go, so let's not prolong the agony," Birck said in a conference call with analysts.

The collapse of the planned acquisition of Ciena Corp. comes at the end of a summer in which little went right for the Linthicum-based telecommunications equipment company.At the start of the season, things looked sunny for Ciena. On June 3, the company announced that it would be bought by a highly successful Illinois firm, Tellabs Inc., in a stock swap initially valued at about $7 billion. Ciena's stock rose strongly in the weeks following the announcement, hitting an all-time closing high of $88.625 on July 20.Then Ciena got caught in a hurricane of bad news, a seemingly endless series of setbacks that sent Ciena stock plunging and, analysts said, ruined the Ciena-Tellabs acquisition.

Tellabs Inc.'s board of directors is meeting today to "evaluate" the company's nearly $7 billion offer to buy Ciena Corp., as the Linthicum telecommunications equipment maker's stock began to recover from a 45 percent plunge Friday.Shares in Ciena rose nearly 16 percent yesterday, closing at $36.125, up $4.875. Ciena was the third-most-active U.S. stock.In its fall to $31.25 Friday, Ciena stock erased about $2.59 billion in shareholder value. That fall occurred after Tellabs and Ciena postponed shareholder votes on the purchase once AT&T Corp.

Shares of Ciena Corp. continued to fall yesterday as some analysts said the company's merger with Tellabs Inc. will either be renegotiated -- again -- or killed.Ciena's shares dropped $3.4375, ending at an all-time low closing price of $16.3125. Yesterday's 17 percent decline followed a 30 percent plunge Wednesday.Ciena's stock was trading at more than $80 a share as recently as July.Ciena's slide has raised questions about whether Tellabs Inc. will go ahead with its purchase of the Linthicum-based telecommunications equipment firm.

Tellabs Inc.'s purchase of Ciena Corp. was called off for good yesterday, raising urgent and difficult questions about what the future holds for the Linthicum company.Fearing vigorous opposition from shareholders, the companies announced yesterday that they were abandoning the deal, which was originally valued at about $7 billion but was later renegotiated to about $4 billion after disappointing earnings estimates and a lost contract sent Ciena's stock into a tailspin.On June 3, when the proposed merger was announced, Ciena stock closed at $61.75 a share.

Shares of Ciena Corp. continued to fall yesterday as some analysts said the company's merger with Tellabs Inc. will either be renegotiated -- again -- or killed.Ciena's shares dropped $3.4375, ending at an all-time low closing price of $16.3125. Yesterday's 17 percent decline followed a 30 percent plunge Wednesday.Ciena's stock was trading at more than $80 a share as recently as July.Ciena's slide has raised questions about whether Tellabs Inc. will go ahead with its purchase of the Linthicum-based telecommunications equipment firm.