All About Nortel

For more on Nortel’s AGM, here’s my story in today’s National Post. It is interesting that CEO Mike Zafirovski’s strong interest in boosting the stock price through improved operations may have something to do with the fact he’s got millions of stock options, including a new tranche with a $2.12 strike price. So, if the [...]

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It looks like Nortel had to pay through the nose to complete its $2-billion debt offering. It plans to issue three different notes: $450 million due in 2016 paying 10.75% a year, $550 million due in 2013 paying 10.125%, and $1 billion of floating rate notes due in 2011, paying three-month LIBOR plus 4.25%. Bottom [...]

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My column in today’s National Post looks at how investors and analysts want more details about Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski’s strategic vision. Meanwhile, Light Reading wonders if Nortel has become the “Old Maid in Telecom M&A” after watching from the sidelines while rivals such as Alcatel, Lucent, Siemens and Nokia hook up. ““Nortel’s run [...]

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For anyone not able to make the Nortel AGM today (Thursday) in Toronto, check out the Webcast. Anyone want to bet on how long this year’s AGM lasts? Hopefully, it will take less time than last year’s six-hour plus marathon.
Update: So far, turnout at the AGM seems fairly light, which would suggests the AGM [...]

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Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski has done a nice job giving the company some stability but the natives (aka Wall St. and Bay St. analysts) are getting restless. A good example is Scotia Capital analyst Gus Papageorgiou who applauded yesterday’s pension plan changes and job reductions but clearly wants more. In a research report, he said [...]

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Well, this is no surprise: Nortel is slashing 1,100 jobs, including 350 middle managers - a move that will reduce annual operating costs by $100-million by 2007 and $175-million by 2008. You had to know CEO Mike Zafirovski had something up his sleeve when he’s talking about better times ahead by 2008. Do not be [...]

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According to Associated Press, UBS said it believes consolidation within the wireless equipment market may have ended now that three companies (Ericsson, Lucent/Alcatel and Nokia/Siemens) control 70% of the market. UBS does, however, expect M&A in the wireline and enterprise sector with Siemens’ enterprise business on the market. UBS said Motorola is not likely to [...]

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There’s lot of buzz about Microsoft’s move into the IP telephony market - a move that has people strangely excited despite the fact the market is already pretty crowded with players such as Mitel and Cisco. Nevertheless, Nortel has grabbed some of the spotlight because the Nortel-LG joint venture will work with Microsoft to develop [...]

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For all the speculation about Nortel being a buyer, there are some people who believe the company could be bought as the telecom equipment market leading players look to consolidate. India’s Financial Express quotes Charter Equity Research analyst Edward Snyder that “If you look at financials, Nortel is the No.1 target” for a takeover. The [...]

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The Globe & Mail has a large feature on Nortel - basically a compendium of recent news and some laudatory comments about Mike Z. However, it fails to answer the big question: why is Mike Z. so bullish.

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