Lucent Technologies announced that its Microelectronics spinoff has selected Agere Systems as its name. The company, which is the former Microelectronics Group of Lucent Technologies, is the world leader in semiconductors for communications applications and comrises two major divisions -- integrated circuits and optoelectronic components. Lucent announced its intention on July 20, 2000, to spin off its Microelectronics Group. It plans an initial public offering for up to 20 percent of the new company and intends to spin off the remaining shares in a tax-free distribution. The IPO should take place by the end of the first calendar quarter of 2001, and the spin off should be completed by the summer of 2001. The name Agere (pronounced a-GEAR) has its roots in the Latin verb 'ago' that means "to lead, to drive, to act". It is consistent with the aspirations of the new company and reflects feedback from employees, customers and industry analysts around the world. "We conducted focus groups and interviews to determine the positive traits most closely associated with success," said John Dickson, the president and CEO-designate for Agere Systems. "The attributes we heard most frequently were industry leadership, the ability to drive innovation in a dynamic market and a reputation for acting quickly to meet customer needs. These attributes are at the heart of our new company, and are reflected in the name we chose." The logo is a wordmark that is formed by the letters of the new name. The hard 'g' is intended to give the name a bold sound and is the central feature of the wordmark's design. The signature color of the new logo is purple, a deliberate departure from the colors that typically represent other companies in the industry. Agere is not a new name to the company. Earlier this year, Lucent acquired an Austin, Texas-based company by that name to add its significant expertise in programmable network processors to the Microelectronics Group. "Although we considered hundreds of names, we kept coming back to Agere, because of its meaning," Dickson continued. "We added 'Systems' to the name to reflect our goal of providing communications systems solutions to our customers."