Warburg Pincus Equity Partners and Providence Equity Partners are reportedly
in negotiations to buy Telcordia Technologies for $1.3 billion, according
to the Wall Street Journal.
The private-equity firms could announce the purchase in the next few days,
the newspaper said, citing sources close to the deal.
Telcordia has operated as a subsidiary of San Diego’s Science Applications
International Corp. (SAIC) since 1997, but its roots date back to AT&T’s
Bell Labs.
It provides important software and services that handles traffic on IP,
wireline, wireless and cable network operators.
A Telcordia spokeswoman declined comment on the report, which said the
unit’s suitors also included other telecom and IT companies.
Piscataway, N.J.-based Telcordia has 3,500 employees worldwide and annual
revenue of more than $1 billion. It also has a presence in Asia and Europe,
areas that the prospective new owners consider growth markets, according
to the report.
Spokesmen for Warburg Pincus and Providence Equity were not immediately
available for comment.
Warburg Pincus has experience in IT and telecom investing. It has backed
companies, including Avaya , BEA Systems
and Veritas Software .
Providence Equity Partners has made investments in more than 60
communications and media companies with operations in more than 20 countries.