Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Former Worldport CEO appointed to 3Com board

By Mass High Tech Staff

Kathleen Cote, former CEO of Worldport Communications Inc., has been named to the 3Com Corp. board of directors. Elected as an “independent” board member, 3Com officials report that Cote will work on the board’s audit and finance committee and nominating and governance committee.

Currently a private investor and advisor, Cote had worked from 2001 to 2003 as CEO of Worldport, an Internet service provider in Europe. Before then, she founded and served as president of Seagrass Partners, a business planning and development company. Cote also worked as CEO of Computervision Corp., a data management software provider.

Cote also serves as director to VeriSign Inc., Western Digital Corp. and Forgent Networks Inc.

A network service provider, 3Com announced today a plan to buy back up to $100 million of its own stock over the next year. Company officials say that the plan approves both repurchases through open-market and privately negotiated deals as management feels it is needed. Any repurchased shares will be retired to 3Com’s authorized but unissued shares.

For 2008, 3Com reported a loss of $228 million on revenue of $1.3 billion.