3Com agreed to acquire Bridge Communications for...

3Com agreed to acquire Bridge Communications for $201 million in stock. Under the transaction, each outstanding share of Mountain View-based Bridge will be exchanged for 1.4 shares of 3Com, which is headquartered in Santa Clara. Both companies make so-called networking products that link personal computers. A Bridge official said the deal will give the combined company the size needed “to compete on a solid footing with our long-term competitors--AT&T; and IBM.”