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Lucent Buys INS

Lucent Technologies Inc. (www.lucent.com) announced it has purchased International Network Services (INS, www.ins.com) and plans to completely integrate the network services and software company into its NetCare division.

"INS will significantly expand Lucent's NetCare offerings, adding enhanced network design and consulting capabilities and nearly a decade of Internet protocol integration experience to our services and support," said Rich McGinn, Lucent Technologies chairman and CEO, in a statement. "Moreover, INS' INSoft performance management software complements Lucent's advanced communications software portfolio."

INS also offers software products, that Lucent will use in its own services and also sell as standalone products. The VitalSuite product that INS recently acquired from Vital Signs provides application-driven performance monitoring, and will be used to complement Lucent’s remote performance monitoring, which focuses on the network level.

Lucent Technologies' NetCare Professional Services network lifecycle support services include customer training and certification; professional consulting; design, engineering and integration; and maintenance and network management services for voice, data and video networks.

Under terms of the agreement, each share of INS will be converted into 0.8473 shares of Lucent. The merger is valued at about $3.7 billion, or about $54 per INS share, on a fully diluted basis.

The merger is expected to be completed during Lucent's first quarter of fiscal 2000, which ends on Dec. 31, 1999. --Thomas Sullivan

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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