Comverse Agrees to Buy Boston Technology

Telephone equipment maker Comverse Technology Inc. agreed to buy rival Boston Technology Inc. for $859 million in stock, aiming to join their voicemail and messaging products to compete with bigger rival Lucent Technologies Inc. Woodbury, N.Y.-based Comverse, which sells its equipment mainly to cellular and wireless companies, has a strong presence in Europe. Boston Technology is better known in the U.S., Japan and Brazil. The accord offers Boston Technology stockholders no premium and follows Lucent’s $1.8-billion agreement in July to buy Milpitas, Calif.-based Octel Communications Corp., the world’s biggest voicemail company. Shares of Wakefield, Mass.-based Boston Technology fell $2 to close at $29.63 on the New York Stock Exchange; Comverse shares dropped 88 cents to close at $47.63 on Nasdaq. The transaction is subject to approval by both companies’ shareholders and to regulatory clearances.