Report: Alcatel to Sell Mobile Unit
French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel SA plans to sell its mobile phone unit to Chinese handset maker Nanjing Panda Electronics, a French newspaper reported Monday.
Financial daily La Tribune said the French company agreed to the sale 10 days ago after talks with Panda and other potential Chinese bidders, including rival electronics company TCL.
The paper cited unnamed industry sources for its report.
Alcatel spokesman Mark Burnworth declined to comment on the report but said the company was "actively looking for solutions" at its loss-making mobile phone business. He declined to say how many people the unit employs.
Alcatel does not break out results for the business in financial statements, but analysts quoted by La Tribune put its net loss at 80 million euros ($100 million) in 2003 _ about a tenth of its estimated sales.
The group announced last month that its loss narrowed to 1.94 billion euros ($2.44 billion) in 2003 from 4.75 billion euros the previous year, as it swung back to an operating profit of 332 million euros ($416 million) from an operating loss of 606 million euros a year ago.
Chief executive Serge Tchuruk said last October that Alcatel would seek new partners for the unit.
His counterpart at Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said in an interview published Monday that he was not interested in taking over Alcatel's handset business.
"We are not in talks and we do not see any major acquisitions," Jorma Ollila told daily Le Figaro. "We are only interested in little technology acquisitions to complete our range."