Alcatel to Acquire Genesys Telecom

Alcatel, Europe’s second-biggest phone equipment maker, said it will acquire Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. of San Francisco for about $1.5 billion in stock. Genesys makes software used by call centers offering telephone, Internet and e-mail services, a market Alcatel said is forecast to be worth $7 billion by 2002. For its fiscal year ended June 30, Genesys had sales of $140 million, an increase of 64% over the previous year. Paris-based Alcatel will pay 1.67 of its American depositary receipts for each Genesys share. Genesys rose $3.88 to close at $44.75 on Nasdaq, while Alcatel’s ADRs lost 31 cents to end at $27 on the NYSE. The deal would be Alcatel’s fifth acquisition in the U.S. in the last 12 months, including Calabasas-based Xylan Corp.