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3Com postpones buyout vote, still talking with Bain over security concerns
[February 29, 2008]

3Com postpones buyout vote, still talking with Bain over security concerns


(Associated Press WorldStream Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) MARLBOROUGH, Massachusetts_3Com Corp. postponed its Friday shareholder vote on a $2.2 billion (?1.45 billion) buyout that is being held up by a U.S. national security review.

The data network equipment maker said it was still talking with its potential private equity buyer, Bain Capital Partners LLC, about alternatives that could address security concerns over a Chinese company's role in the deal.

Bain had partnered in the proposed acquisition with China's Huawei Technologies Co., a company with strong ties to the Chinese government. Lawmakers and Bush administration officials have expressed concerns that sensitive military technology could be transferred to China.



3Com said late Thursday that it would convene the meeting and immediately adjourn without a vote.

3Com has rescheduled the meeting for March 7, giving shareholders the chance to vote if a new deal is reached by then with Boston-based Bain.


Under the original proposal last September, China's Huawei Technologies Co. would have held a minority ownership stake in 3Com.

3Com and Bain said on Feb. 20 that they had withdrawn their filing on the deal with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

3Com's shares jumped 62 cents, or 21 percent, to $3.53 in early trading Friday.

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