What is an Alcatel-Lucent ADS/ADR?
An American Depositary Share, or ADS, is a security that allows shareholders in the United States to more easily hold and trade interests in foreign-based companies. ADSs are often evidenced by certificates known as American Depositary Receipts, or ADRs. Alcatel-Lucent is a French company that issues ordinary shares that are equivalent in many respects to common stock of a U.S. company. Each Alcatel-Lucent ADS represents one Alcatel-Lucent ordinary share. Alcatel-Lucent ordinary shares are quoted in euros on the Euronext Paris SA, which is the French national stock exchange. Alcatel-Lucent ADSs are similar to the underlying Alcatel-Lucent ordinary shares and carry substantially the same rights; however, they are not identical. See chapter 10, section 10.3 “American Depositary shares […]” in Alcatel-Lucent’s annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, which is referred to as Alcatel-Lucent’s 2007 Form 20-F.
