Alcatel Acquires Telera For $136M

Communications Today, May 30, 2002

In a deal worth $136 million in stock, Alcatel [ALA] will acquire Telera, a Campbell, Calif.-based company that provides a voice-Web platform using voice extensible markup language (VoiceXML) to make web content accessible by telephone.

Telera will become a part of Alcatel's Genesys contact center software business and will focus initially on the market for voice self-service solutions, which is expected to grow to $600 million by 2005. Telera's $30 million cash position will be used to fund the company's development.

The acquisition, which is expected to close in July, will enable Alcatel to create a VoiceXML center of competency that will be utilized by other Alcatel businesses to enhance product offerings for customers.