High Tech Star

Last February, Northern Telecom Chairman and CEO Paul G. Stern was scouting for a European partner to establish a beachhead in the Continent's sizzling new market for digital mobile phone gear. When word came that France's Matra was looking for a partner, too, Stern wasted no time. He called Matra CEO Jean-Luc Lagardere and then headed for Paris on his Challenger jet. Although Matra was already entertaining bids from AT&T, Siemens, and Philips, Stern persisted. "He's been flying across the Atlantic like I cross the English Channel," says Lagardere, who hit it off with the indefatigable Stern.

On July 2, Stern's frequent flying paid off: Northern Telecom Ltd. announced it will pay about $310 million for up to 40% of Matra's communications division and a 5% stake in its parent. Their teaming up, Stern crows, "is just the beginning" of a broad European alliance that will span a whole range of telephone products.