September 7, 2001 Southwire (www.southwire.com) is selling its communications-cable division, called Cyber Technologies, to General Cable Corp. (www.generalcable.com). The exchange is part of a larger deal, in which General Cable will sell its building-wire operations to Southwire.
The Cyber Technologies division will transfer from Southwire to General Cable when the building-wire deal closes. The companies expect that deal to close sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. General Cable approximates the value of the Cyber Technology division's assets at $4 million, and says the division had revenues of approximately $6 million in 2000.
In a conference call on September 6, Gregory Kenny, General Cable's president and chief executive officer, said that "when market conditions are right," General Cable will use the former Cyber Technologies division to expand General's presence in Mexico.
In addition to selling the building-wire operations to Southwire, General Cable will stop manufacturing consumer cordsets—a product line that generated $80 million in net sales last year.
"We believe that sales activity in the North American wire and cable industry is currently at about 80% of prior year," said Kenny. "Portions of the communications segment of the industry have been off to even a greater extent. We previously reported concern regarding the softness in data-communications and central-office cables and we are now seeing softness in outside-plant telecommunications cable."
