Alcatel Outsources to Jabil

PARIS -- Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and JabilCircuit (NYSE: JBL) today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to outsource the European manufacturing of Alcatel’s PBX and IP-based PCX communication systems to Jabil Circuit. The agreement, subject to approval from various regulatory bodies and appropriate consultationwith worker councils, will transfer Alcatel’s Brest, France manufacturing facility to Jabil.Jabil Circuit will acquire the assets of the Brest manufacturing plant andcontinue to manufacture Alcatel’s private branch exchange and IP-basedprivate communications exchange corporate telephone systems. Seven hundredAlcatel employees will be transferred to Jabil Circuit upon the finalclosing of the agreement, which is expected to occur by end of April.Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed."This three-year outsourcing agreement expands and solidifies Jabil’smanufacturing relationship with Alcatel," said Timothy L. Main, Jabilpresident and chief executive officer. "The Brest site is engaged in veryadvanced system integration and test services in addition to PCBA assemblyand NPI services. We believe these advanced capabilities will be astrategic addition to our global business development activities." Jabilwill supplement the operation with a Jabil business developmentorganization and will begin efforts to diversify the manufacturing base atthe site.Alcatel SAJabil Circuit Inc.