• CommScope cable gets RUS approval
By Brian Santo
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Telecommunications Program has accepted CommScope’s Flat Drop cable designs, enabling service providers seeking funding from the Rural Utilities Service to propose the use of the Flat Drop products in business plans and applications they submit for RUS grants and loans.
CommScope’s Flat Drop designs include an all-dielectric cable suitable for aerial self-supporting or burial applications and a toneable design, which contains a wire used to locate the underground portion of the fiber run.
Both cable types are small, lightweight constructions and are compatible with industry-standard hardware. Their dual ripcords also simplify access and installation. CommScope’s Flat Drop cable designs are suitable for all fiber-to-the-home applications, including CommScope’s BrightPath RF over glass products.
• Broadcom extends tender offer for Emulex to July 1
By The Associated Press
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) – Network gear-maker Broadcom Corp. on Thursday extended the deadline of its tender offer for rival Emulex Corp. on Thursday to July 1. Broadcom’s all-cash offer of $9.25 per share, or $764 million, was previously set to expire Wednesday.
Emulex has called the bid “grossly inadequate” and urged shareholders to reject the offer. In a statement Thursday, Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor said, “Emulex stockholders should have a chance to evaluate the fairness of our offer – they deserve better than the barriers and delaying tactics that the Emulex Board has put in place.”
Emulex, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., did not immediately return a call Thursday morning seeking comment.
• Vonage to settle shareholder suit over IPO
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) – Internet phone company Vonage Holdings Corp. said it has agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit that alleged the company bungled its initial public offering in 2006. The Holmdel, N.J., company announced the agreement late Thursday, saying the settlement amount would be covered by its directors’ and officers’ insurance policy.
The 2006 IPO was a disaster for investors. They bought the shares for $17 each, then saw the value fall 13 percent when they opened for trading on May 24. They were trading at 45.5 cents on Thursday morning, up 4.5 cents.
Atlanta-based law firm Motley Rice LLC filed suit on behalf of shareholders a week after the IPO, alleging that Vonage erred when it reserved 13.5 percent of the IPO shares for customers of phone service. These were not serious investors, the suit alleged, and the failure of some of them to pay for the shares exacerbated the decline in share value.
The parties did not immediately respond to questions about what the settlement would mean for shareholders. The settlement is subject to court approval.
