Siemens Enterprise: June Wedding Postponed
It’s common knowledge that Siemens AG, the Munich based conglomerate that spun off its carrier systems division into a joint venture with Nokia, has been seeking suitors for its enterprise division as well. Nortel and private equity firm Cerberus Capital are the companies whose names most often come up these days and June has been the month when the wedding bells were widely expected to ring. Plans have apparently changed at bit.
Marriage negotiations are certainly still underway. Siemens Enterprise Communications CEO Thomas Zimmerman describes his company as in a state of “advanced stages of talk with various partners.” There is no official word on who these partners might be, but unofficially Cerberus seems to be the most dogged of suitors, according to the German press. However, the June deadline for the corporate nuptials to take place (whether it’s with Cerberus or any other firm) has definitely been postponed.
This can be seen as a positive development for Siemens Enterprise Communications in that the division will not necessarily be rushed into new ownership. Siemens AG will have more negotiating power when it comes to finding the right match for Siemens Enterprise Communications, which commands nearly 10% share of the US market for Enterprise Telephony according to Synergy Research Group and has a leadership position (nearly 20% share) of Western Europe’s Enterprise Telephony market.
Of course, this also means that the precise nature of Siemens Enterprise Communications’ future corporate ownership remains uncertain. Hopefully this is something that its customers and business partners can remain patient with. The company has seen its market share numbers erode since Cisco’s IP telephony star began to rise several years back. Siemens is in no way unique in this regard. Avaya, Nortel, Alcatel-Lucent, and others have also been affected in the same way. In all cases, the erosion has been gradual, but it is something that Siemens and the others need to end or reverse before too long.
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