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What if Nortel Can’t Sell MEN?
By Mark Evans | October 10, 2008
Given the terrible state of global capital markets, it’s entirely possible that Nortel will not be able to find a buyer for its metro Ethernet network business unless it’s willing to accept a bargain-basement price.
If MEN can’t be sold, then what?
Does Nortel hang on until the M&A market improves so it can get a better price for MEN? Or does a non-MEN sale encourage Nortel’s senior executives to re-think a strategic move that caught many people by surprise?
It has been interesting to see Nortel announce recently a string of 40G contracts and talk the talk about how its 100G technology is going to be needed by carriers. The question is whether this is just happy talk to fluff up MEN for a sale or a sign that the optical market is looking good as the demand for bandwidth grows?
If I had to make a wild prediction, it would be that Nortel pulls MEN off the table, citing unattractive offers and a volatile global economy. The question will be then what other moves Nortel needs to make.
If there was ever a time for Nortel’s senior executives to find a moment of strategic brilliance, now is it.
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Topics: M&A |