Lucent to Buy Octel for $1.8 Billion

Lucent Technologies Inc. said it will buy Octel Communications Corp., the world’s top voice-mail company, for $31 a share, or $1.8 billion in cash. The combined messaging unit would have more than $1 billion in annual sales in an industry that’s growing at 20% a year. Lucent, spun off last year by AT&T; Corp., makes telephone systems and the hardware and software that run phone networks. Lucent plans to take an undisclosed charge this quarter for the purchase. “This is a great integration strategy,” said Tripp Rudisill, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates. “Lucent won’t have to go and reinvent the wheel to make Octel work.” With Milpitas, Calif.-based Octel, Lucent will offer a fuller line of messaging products, adding Octel’s equipment that lets customers get voice mail on their cellular phones. Octel’s shares rose $3.38 to close at $30.13 in Nasdaq trading. The offer is 16% more than Octel’s closing price Wednesday. Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent shares fell $2.63 to close at $86.06 on the NYSE. Some analysts attributed the share decline to concern that the firm will use too much cash for the purchase.