Lucent excuses its French

To deal with a soft market – and tough competitors – Alcatel SA has joined forces with Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU). The deal makes a lot of sense – as there should be lots of cost synergies. But, such mega deals can be complex – especially when integrating companies that are based in different countries. As for Alcatel, it is based in France. And, the new leader of the company will be Lucent's CEO, Patricia Russo.

Interestingly enough, she will not learn French. Of course, given the competitive environment, learning French will probably not help much.

However, in mega M&A deals, it is important to be sensitive to cultural issues. After all, look at the challenges when AOL merged with Time-Warner. Even though the companies were both based in the US, there were still major cultural clashes.

Also, keep in mind that the combined Alcatel-Lucent will be headquartered in Paris. So, why not learn French? If she did, it actually could be a strong gesture on her part to the employee base -- and a good way to start off the deal.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.