What’s Up with Nortel?

Nothing can be done to stop all of this which is destined from 2001. Do not beg the Canada Gov to save nortel, i think they also have no money, after bailing out the Car manufacture. Canadians, the ever strong high-tech force in north america, will lead a rich life by selling the oil, just like australia selling metal minerl... :))

Nortel to file for bankruptcy protection

January 14, 2009 at 2:00 AM EST

Former technology titan Nortel Networks Corp. [NT-T] is expected to file for bankruptcy protection as early as today

According to sources working with Toronto-based Nortel and its creditors, the company plans to seek court approval for creditor protection as early as this morning

Shareholders will likely see their holdings all but wiped out.

It's formal

They just folded.

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090114.wnortel14/BNStory/Business/home

No wonder they are meeting, like the house is on fire uncontrollably.

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/01/13/nortelbankruptcy.html
"Paying would use up about 10 per cent of the cash available to Nortel in North America."

Approx. 10% is only $1B in "cash available" What about the rest of their $1.3B of the $2.3B reported cash?
( after selling so many assets and printing so many billions in Nortel paper, unable to sell or print even more, even this cash is increasingly declining, revisiting under $2B in Q206's cash balance they had to print 10% bonds to pay increasingly antsy 4% creditors).

Is this unavailable balance tied up in debt covenants? (like when creditors increased their cash collateral from $1B to $1.5B, due to post ultimatum settlement revisions they downplayed to double) Why is it unavailable?

Considering their cash burn of 250M this quarter alone, does this equal 25% of their $1B in cash available! If it does, this indicates they do not have even the lower end of their 12 to 18 month spectrum as they claim.

Has this already catalyzed to a mass exodus of customers and leery suppliers who may no longer want to extend terms where they must change forecasts again midstream like single digit growth to loss, or 3 to 5 years fixes and almost 100% later, $20 buying opportunities around a year ago to 30 cents today, like bonusgate fraud profits, BSNL, PEC, Neptune, Putian, WiMax,/LTE etc.. hypeconactivity to today's cartooned avatars.(endless) leading up to all this?

Now, aging and tanking CDMA that accounts for almost all profits also came in lower than they indicated according to an analyst.

I hardly think Nortel hiring bankruptcy lawyers is worthy of downplaying anymore than delisting or antsy bondholders who hired the same lawyers used in Lehman Bros bankruptcy.

Something is brewing alright.

If history serves as any example from nontransparent Flextronics amendments to more recent pondering bids at twice the anticipated value. etc., nothing has changed with endless contradictions to worsening credibility.

Increasingly fewer are hoping for the best unrealistically with increasingly more bracing for the worse realistically. I do not believe anyone is observing this untruthfully at this point in good conscience. =)

NT should and will file CCAA protection tomorrow giving the interest of the current shareholder. The earlier, the better at the bagin table with bondholder.

Mark my word, NT will file CCAA protection tomorrow.

What about a change in management direction. I know Mike Z has only completed 3 1/2 years out of his 5 year plan, but Nortel is not any better off. The last 2 times I can remember the board meeting out of the normal, was to fire Frank Dunn and hire Bill Owens. Then again to show Bill Owens the door and hire Mike Z.

If its even on the agenda, that, in and of itself, would be a very newsworthy item.

We all await what decision the board will arrive at tonight. Management's continued silence, lack of direction and utter denial in the face of all this uncertainty is astounding. If anything good can come out of tonight's decision, it's that we'll finally hear the truth.

CBC talked to two regular employees (i.e. not executives) so unless they sources are executives, they shouldn't have any privileged information.

Also, NT has enough cash to pay that "interest payment" or whatever it is.
I doubt NT would file BK just to avoid a payment of 100-120 M

but who knows, I may be wrong and CBC may have an inside reliable after all...

Jo,
Actually, it has nothing to do with NT's ability to pay given the cash they hold. Instead, it has everything to do with all the things they can do with those $110M by not making that payment IF, AND ONLY IF, NT is going to default on the bonds anyway. You see, many believe that in 2011, the credit markets and/or NT's balance sheet may not allow NT to refinance those bonds. If they can't refinance, they will be in default.

Wouldn't it be normal course of action for a Board of Director's Meeting during the year-end Audit process?

I guess anything is possible and maybe we'll hear more on Wednesday.