Alcatel in talks to acquire Lucent Technologies

French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel is in talks to acquire United States rival Lucent Technologies.

Sources said if the two companies agreed on a deal, Alcatel would pay little, if any, premium over Lucent's stock price.

Lucent has a market capitalisation of about $US34 billion, while Alcatel's is about €43.6 billion ($US38.3 billion).