News In Brief

Lucent Technologies Inc., the world's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, said it would buy fiber-optical company Chromatis Networks for $4.5 billion in stock. The purchase is part of Lucent's effort to strengthen its arsenal of products in the surging fiber-optical networking market. Privately held Chromatis, based in Herndon, Va., makes equipment particularly suited for heavily trafficked metropolitan areas, which has been a weak spot for Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent.

Motorola Inc., the No. 2 wireless phone maker in the world, announced it signed an outsourcing pact with Flextronics International Ltd. worth more than $30 billion over a five-year period. The two companies said the Singapore-based contract manufacturer will supply certain parts for Motorola products including wireless phones, two-way pagers, and wireless infrastructure devices. The deal, in which Motorola also will take about a 5 percent stake in Flextronics, is one of the largest outsourcing agreements to date in the electronics industry.

A merger aimed at creating one of the world's largest beverage manufacturers was announced by Denmark's Carlsberg AS and Orkla AS of Norway. The combined company, to be based in Denmark, is projected to have annual sales of $2.86 billion. The new partners are best known for their respective brands of beer, but they also bottle soft drinks, which will be included in the deal. Orkla's other holdings are in food production and the mass media.

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