Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is to shell out nearly $68 million to buy remote fixed broadband and mobile subscriber management specialist, and long-time partner, Motive , the companies announced today.

AlcaLu will pay $2.23 per share in cash to acquire Motive, a near 53 percent mark-up on the software specialist's share price of $1.46 at close of trading Monday. In total, AlcaLu will pay $67.8 million for the company, which had been actively seeking a buyer. (See Motive to Evaluate Options.)

The two companies have been working closely together for about three years: Alcatel-Lucent says they have been jointly deployed at more than 40 carriers, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA), Swisscom AG (NYSE: SCM), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which use Motive's software to automate the activation, configuration, and support of home gateways. (See Alcatel, Motive Partner Up and Motive Lands BT Deal.)

"This is a useful purchase for Alcatel-Lucent," says Heavy Reading chief analyst Graham Finnie, "as operators increasingly look to source a complete end-to-end package for their broadband needs."

The purchase is expected to close before the end of the year but is dependent on a number of conditions, including the delivery of Motive's audited accounts for the years 2006 and 2007, and Motive's recently announced legal settlements becoming "final and non-appealable" -- so the deal may yet fall through. (See Motive Fires Its Auditor and Motive Settles Cases.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading