French telecom equipment maker Alcatel SA agreed Sunday to buy U.S. rival Lucent Technologies Inc. for $13.4 billion in stock to increase its exposure to the American market.
In a joint statement, the companies said shareholders of Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent will get 0.1952 of an Alcatel American depositary share. That values each Lucent share at about $3.01, or 4 cents less than the closing share price on Friday. It also reflects a premium of 6.7 percent over the closing share price on March 23, the day before the two companies admitted they were in talks.
