FIBER-OPTIC FIRM STILL PLANS MOVE.Byline: Derek Andrade Staff Writer ALHAMBRA - Concern rippled from Wall Street to the Southland on Monday following the news that Lucent Technologies Inc. had acquired Ortel Corp. for nearly $3 billion. Investors and business leaders alike were fearful the deal might derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. the Alhambra-based fiber-optic firm's highly anticipated relocation to an Irwindale business park. But Stephen Rizzone, Ortel's president, chairman of the board and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , quashed those fears, saying the deal would not interfere with his company's plans. ``We are continuing with our plan to move to Irwindale, and we will begin to take occupancy in late March with the bulk moving over in June or July,'' said Rizzone, who took over Ortel in June 1999. Trammell Crow F. Trammell Crow (born June 11, 1914, in Dallas, Texas) is an American property developer who created several famous projects, including Dallas Market Center, Peachtree Center (Atlanta, Georgia), and San Francisco's Embarcadero Center. Company officials in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. confirmed Monday that the commercial real estate firm had inked Lucent and Ortel to a 10 1/2-year sublease sublease n. the lease of all or a portion of premises by a tenant who has leased the premises from the owner. A sublease may be prohibited by the original lease, or require written permission from the owner. for 166,000 square feet. The deal was valued at $35 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Trammell Crow. Ortel officials said Jan. 14 that they were close to signing a long-term lease with Washington Mutual “WaMu” redirects here. For the Washington, DC radio station, see WAMU. Washington Mutual (or WaMu; NYSE: WM) is the United States' largest savings and loan association. Inc. and Metropolitan Life. Met Life owns the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. Corporate Center, while Washington Mutual had a pre-existing lease that didn't expire until September Until September is a 1984 romantic drama set in France. It stars Karen Allen as an American tourist in Paris who falls in love with a married Frenchman (Thierry Lhermitte). External links 2010. But Wall Street analysts and economists held steadfast to their predictions that the $2.95 billion stock deal could jeopardize Ortel's move over the next several months to the San Gabriel Valley Corporate Center, the former headquarters of H.F. Ahmanson's Home Savings of America. ``You would have to figure that everything would be on hold until Lucent decides what they want to do on a capital investment level,'' said Brett Miller, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis. Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., also said it would be wise for Lucent to put Ortel's Irwindale move on hold. ``If you're on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of making a major investment, you would probably want to put everything on hold and see what happens,'' said Kyser. ``There are some important questions, and it makes you nervous about what will now happen.'' Some financial analysts said they were also concerned with how the Lucent-Ortel deal was structured since the valuation was ``too low.'' But Ortel's Rizzone said he felt the acquisition price was fair. ``When we started these discussions in January with Lucent, our stock was trading at 105,'' he said. ``And we closed on Friday at 177, a significant premium.'' The Lucent deal isn't expected to be finalized until June 30, following approval by investors and government regulators. Ortel will become part of Lucent's optoelectronics component division. Ortel officials also said the company would retain its name in the deal, and that no layoffs were anticipated among its 550 employees in Southern California, Sweden, Germany, France and China. THE FACTS Name: Ortel Corp. Headquarters: Alhambra Founded: 1980 Business: Makes high-capacity laser and fiber-optics devices Employees: 550 1999 Sales: $72.1 million Name: Lucent Technologies Inc. Headquarters: Murray Hill, NJ Business: Spin-off from telecommunications giant AT&T and world's leading maker of telecommunications equipment Employees: 141,000 1999 Sales: $38.3 billion Source: Hoover's Financial CAPTION(S): box Box: The Facts (see text) |
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