GEC buys Fore Systems for $4.2bn

GEC has bought US-based switching specialist Fore Systems for $4.2bn in a move which gives a massive boost to the UK firm's ATM and IP offering.

A spokesman for Fore Systems said: "This will reinforce their [GEC's] position in the voice and data technology market. To be a major player in this arena you have to be a multi-billion dollar company."

The spokesman added that the Fore brand will exist for 12 to 18 months, but could eventually disappear completely. "That's all down to GEC now," he said.

A spokesman for GEC explained that following the sell off of its defence arm to British Aerospace in January, the company has changed direction. "But we would be still looking at the defence industry in the capacity as a telco," he added.

He went on to explain that following the $2.1bn acquisition of Reltec - a US telecoms equipment manufacturer specialising in local loop technology - the company is confident it can now offer a comprehensive product range.

"The only other company that can compete with us is Lucent. Cisco and Nortel are bigger, but haven't got the complete solution," he claimed.

Ian Shepherd, LAN product manager at systems integrator K-Net, said the move did not surprise him. "GEC is a large, cash rich company which wanted a way into communications, and Fore was the last of the independent companies out there," he said.

Shepherd believes it could have been worse for Fore: "At least GEC has a product line to compliment that of Fore, and are not coming in to destroy it."