Alcatel-Lucent announced a deal to sell its Genesys contact centre equipment division to private equity group Permira for USD 1.5 billion, excluding cash and debt. The deal is expected to close by late 2011 or early 2012, pending regulatory approval. Genesys specialises in customer service software and contact centre equipment for businesses and had sales of around USD 500 million last year. The sale will include the transfer of around 1,800 employees worldwide. The divestment is part of a broader review of Alcatel-Lucent's enterprise activities started earlier this year. The company said it has decided to hold on to the remaining assets offering communications equipment for businesses. "Our chosen direction is to leverage the natural connections that exist between enterprise and carrier customers, and proactively apply Enterprise's strengths and momentum in unified communications and data networking with them," CEO Ben Verwaayen said. Earlier reports suggested that Alcatel tried to sell both Genesys and Enterprise together, but was unable to find a buyer. The two companies will continue to work together under a joint development agreement and access to each other's product portfolios.
