New 3Com CEO to stay in China; Sege returns

On the heels of its failed merger with Bain Capital Partners LLC, networking equipment maker 3Com Corp. is shuffling its executive team. Today, the company announced the appointment of former Nortel Networks and Alcatel executive Robert Mao to the post of CEO, and former 3Com executive Ronald Sege as president and chief operating officer.

The tandem takes management of Marlborough-based 3Com's (Nasdaq: COMS) operations from the departing CEO Edgar Masri, who joined the company in 2006 and was the architect behind the$2.2 billion proposed buyout by Bain Capital. Reasons for Masri's departure were not provided.

As CEO, Mao will be based in China, supporting what officials called "the company's increasing emphasis on its growing and profitable China-based H3C (Huawei-3Com Co. Ltd) operations." H3C is a former joint venture between 3Com and Chinese equipment vendor Huawei Technologies.

Content Continues Below

Sege, a former CEO of Tropos Networks Inc. and Ellacoya Networks Inc., will be based in 3Com's Marlborough office, but will report to Mao, according to the company. Sege previously held senior executive roles at 3Com from 1989 to 1998.

3Com boasts approximately 4,000 employees in China, and more than 400 in Massachusetts, according to published reports. Worldwide it employs approximately 6,000.

3Com was founded in California in 1979 by a four-person team led by Ethernet inventor Robert Metcalfe, who is now a venture capitalist at Polaris Venture Partners. The company has a long history in networking technologies, among them the development of the Ethernet and the spinout of Palm Inc. in 2000.

In 2003, the company relocated from California to Massachusetts. That same year, 3Com also established a joint partnership with Huawei. Last November, 3Com paid $882 million to buy out Huawei's 49 percent stake.

The networking company reported $1.2 billion in sales in its fiscal 2007 ending June 1, but absorbed an $88.6 million loss.