Alcatel-Lucent to sell off Genesys

Reuters reports.

Two of the people said on Thursday that a transaction was close, while a third person said that while talks were ongoing, there was no guarantee a deal would be struck.

The Financial Times had reported a sale of the business would be announced for as much as $1.5 billion in the coming week.

Alcatel-Lucent, based in Paris, in July began a review of 'strategic options' for its enterprise communications division, of which Genesys is a part, Bloomberg Businessweek says.

CEO Ben Verwaayen is selling assets as he concludes a three-year turnaround plan at Alcatel-Lucent, created with the 2006 merger of Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies.

Last year, Alcatel sold its vacuum technology unit for EUR200 million ($275 million), after divesting a stake in aerospace company Thales SA in 2009.

Shares of Alcatel-Lucent jumped 3.5% to $2.97 on Thursday morning, eating into their four-week slide of almost 11%, Fox Business notes.

Alcatel-Lucent has struggled to return to profitability since the company was formed five years ago with the merger. Genesys was acquired by Alcatel in 2000.