Lucent Technologies agreed to acquire certain net assets of Riverstone Networks for $170 million in cash. The deal includes substantially all of Riverstone’s business operations, not including its cash and convertible subordinated notes. Riverstone also said it is close to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a previously announced investigation.
Riverstone is a supplier of carrier-grade Ethernet routers for the telecommunications market. Over the last year, Lucent and Riverstone have worked together in a strategic alliance, delivering high-quality carrier Ethernet routers to service provider customers.
Riverstone will conduct the sale of its business under the provisions of Chapter 11, section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Following this
sale, Riverstone intends to satisfy its remaining non-operating
liabilities including payment of its convertible subordinated notes in
the amount of $65,875,000; provide for any contingent liabilities and
costs of liquidation; and distribute its remaining cash to
Riverstone’s shareholders as part of a plan of liquidation.
Following the close of the transaction, Riverstone will become
part of Lucent’s Multimedia Network Solutions business. Substantially
all of Riverstone’s employees are expected to join Lucent.
“We are extremely pleased and energized to join forces with an
industry leader that we have admired and with which we have closely
collaborated over the past year,” said Oscar Rodriguez, President and
CEO of Riverstone.
http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.riverstonenet.com
- In September 2005, Riverstone Networks introduced two new Carrier Ethernet Access Routers in its Riverstone 15000 product line. The Riverstone 15100 and the 10 Gig-E Riverstone 15200 extend the feature set of the 15008 Ethernet Edge Router into the access layer, providing MPLS from the core to the network edge. Riverstone said the introduction of these routers fulfills the market’s previously unaddressed need for a compact, low-cost, fully-featured platform that extends the benefits of VPLS as close to the service-users as possible.
Like the 15008, the newest members of the 15000 family are equipped with a modular operating system to reduce router software outages and reboots, and MPLS traffic engineering capabilities. The 15100 provides an Ethernet-optimized alternative to Riverstone’s multi-service oriented RS 1100 and 3100. It supports up to 20 triple-speed copper or fiber downlinks, and four Gig-E uplinks. The 15200 extends this by supporting dual 10 Gig-E uplinks. Both of the new access routers support VPLS, RFC-2547 MPLS-VPNs, and Layer 3 routing protocols including BGP, OSPF, multicast, and IS-IS.
- In September 2004, Lucent and Riverstone Networks have formed a partnership to deliver Ethernet solutions for new and existing carrier networks. Specifically, Lucent will integrate Riverstone’s MPLS-based Ethernet routing equipment with Lucent systems, software and professional services. Riverstone’s equipment also complements Lucent’s access and metro optical networking solutions. The agreement is non-exclusive.
- In June 2004, Riverstone introduced its “Ethernet Edge Router” that combines the standard elements of a multiservice edge router – an IP/MPLS control plane, multiple interface types, and the ability to converge traffic over MPLS. The ASIC-driven Riverstone 15008 Ethernet Edge Router employs a distributed and modular operating system architecture that allows the router to detect and restart errant protocols without affecting the rest of the system.
- Riverstone was created in 2001 as a spin-off from Cabletron Systems