3Com Seeks Control Of Joint Venture With Huawei

3Com Corp. is seeking to gain majority control over its Huawei-3Com joint venture with China's Huawei Technologies. The Massachusetts-based firm currently owns 49 percent of the venture and hopes to acquire 2 percent more.

3Com's chief executive Bruce Clafin is also the chairman of the board of directors of the Hong Kong-based joint venture. The combine also has facilities in Hangzhou, China, and markets products in China and Japan as well as other countries.

3Com has said it initially invested $160 million in the joint venture, which, according to the Dow Jones news service, reported a net loss of $14.5 million on revenue of $216 million for the nine-month period ending Dec. 31.

The Chinese government will have to approve the deal before it can be consummated.