M&A

13 November, 2009

UPDATE 1-Nortel delays auction of certain assets

* Delays sale of optical networking, carrier ethernet unit

* Completes sale of CDMA and LTE assets (In U.S. dollars unless noted)

TORONTO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Nortel Networks Corp (NRTLQ.PK) said on Friday that, in light of discussions with interested parties, it will delay the auction of its global optical networking and carrier ethernet businesses.

Qualified bidders now have until Nov. 17 to submit offers for the assets. The auction was originally scheduled to be held on Friday.

The bankrupt Canadian telecom equipment maker said it expects to provide a further update on the auction process and sale of the businesses next week.

Last month, Nortel announced that Ciena Corp's (CIEN.O) $521 million cash and stock bid would be the stalking horse offer for the optical networking and carrier ethernet businesses. [ID:nN07462090]

The Ciena offer sets a floor price on the assets and allows Nortel to solicit competing offers. The winning bid is typically announced after the auction process.

A spokeswoman for Ciena declined to comment on Nortel's deadline extension.

Nortel, once North America's biggest telecommunications equipment company, filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Rather than attempting to restructure, it is auctioning off its assets in an attempt to pay back debtholders.

Toronto-based Nortel also announced on Friday that it has completed the sale of substantially all of its CDMA and LTE assets to Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) for a price of $1.13 billion. (Reporting by Euan Rocha; editing by Rob Wilson)

Source: http://www.reuters.com