Would the Vultures Feast on Nortel?

As for "senior management was in complete denial" it is easy to be in denial when you are protected and know that nothing bad is going to happen to you. I am sure that very few (if any) JCI 5+ menagers are laid off with no severance - it would be interestign to check stats and compare to JCI2-4 laid off numbers.

The director of my business unit (Wimax) was first to say "Business as usual" on GIS in January after Chapter 11 announcement and hapilly accepted position in LTE after getting 80% of employees from Wimax out at the street.

I think he is sleeping good at night knowing that his chair is secure.

Hmmm....being a laid off JCI 5, and knowing others, I can't think of any that were in Richardson who received severance. Take a look, I've filed my claim just like everyone else should.

A great post, refreshing to read the brutal truth afrter so much hype and the traditional hype and hope with past insiders yet again part of or spearheading the bidding process. =)

spoiled meat - its more like a rotted fish with the bones and guts left.

its more like a rotting catfish that died in the mud, was doused with vinegar and broken glass and then trampled on by a Svetozar.

would Dion not be in violation of not disclosing nortel business? he could be sued.

Mark is usually better than this...
Publishing commentary, with no new facts, simply focused on slapping Nortel on behalf of the competition (in this case Avaya)? Come on.

OK. For a bit of a point by point...

Bankruptcy, just like divorce, is messy.
***** Yeah, we all knew that.

What on earth was Nortel thinking when they went down this restructuring path?
***** More like what were the executives thinking, and what was the board thinking? It is as if they were all so shortsighted that they didn't realize a debt payment was coming until just a few weeks before it was due, and they panicked. So they hit the panic button, and went into this process without a plan… or a clue.

Senior management was in complete denial.
***** I’ve got news for you… they still are.
You’ve heard the catch phrases… quick process, emerge as a stronger Nortel, minimal impact to sales… From reading their memos to employees, they are just starting to realize what kind of mess they got us into.

Matlin Patterson is going after the bits, further staking their interest by hiring ex-Nortel executive Dion Joannou to spearhead their bid for the remaining pieces.
***** Good idea picking up Dion Joannou. I’m sure he knows where all the costs and value is hidden much better than any outsider. But, based on past performance, I expect Matlin Patterson to gut the executive levels (especially Mike Z and everyone that came in under him) and completely remove the board of directors, in order to revamp the company from the top down. So Dion is probably not going to be in for the long haul.

In the tech world you are as good as your last product
***** If you sell cars or laptops… sure. But in communications, customers buy the best solution. Which means the value to the customer is a combination of; many products (probably multiple manufacturers), how well they integrate with each other, and how well they collectively fulfill the customers’ needs as a single solution.
Add to that the current economic environment, and many customers are now putting a high premium on value (aka: investment protection). Nortel is lucky that for now, they have a large installed base to generate revenue from. But with no new customers getting on board, that base is slowly shrinking

Six months of chocked innovation (or maybe even longer) is a long time to be without a hit product.
***** Six months of chocked innovation? I have been keeping a close eye on the enterprise business, and product releases have been quite consistent over the last 12 months. This month alone they had the release of 6.0 software for the CS-1000 PBX platform, which is quite a large release if you look at the new feature list. In the next few months they have a new version of the call center products being released, a new gateway for the CS-1000 series, and a long list of IP Phone and data gear releases coming out.
Not bad for a company with clueless top management, and an all but non-existent marketing department.

I wonder if John Manley can be brought up on charges?
Gross incompetence.
Conflict of Interest. Lawfirm with Dunn.
Malfeasance.
Gross Neglect.
Watched as things fell apart and did nothing even though he supposedly
came on board to utilize his political connections?
He was just collecting a cheque.
Really this guy is one of the prime reaons for stalling, denying, navel gazing, hiring and support of mike and fiddling while rome burned.
Sounds like a lawsuit?

Not to rain on your parade, but Mark's curt 366 word essay beats your 507 word hyperverbal confabulation hands down.

In Mark's defence, he's doing his best to hold our attention throughout the wake.

Joe Zero just came back from his vacation and sent out an email to his fellow workers ......

Enterprise Q2 is solid and strong. We will break even ....

and... no new taxes / 1000 points of light? So does the email "sell" you, the Enterprise employee, on the value of your division? In Carrier, it's CDMA/LTE/RLowe and the rest... ...um ...the rest? You mean the "Left Behind"? aka CVAS and GSM

You should have just titled your article ``Rubbing salt in the wound`, but maybe that is what you meant by `please pass the salt`
Let's look at other high tech companies and what they are innovating this day and age especially during this recession.
Cisco---Nothing. Just selling same old stuff at huge margins with bells.
AlcatelLu---Nothing. Just selling same old stuff with bells and whistles.
Huaweii---Gov't handouts and subsidies. Stealing technology
Sure nortel isn't innovating much these days but tell me who is?

Huawei is a corporate pirate. they have all the code and copycat by tearing reverse engineering. name one technology invented by huawei or as we'd pronounce it in english - whoahwe

Huawei is china's bitch. not independent. never will be.

You are clueless about Huawei. One of typical loser from Nortel has been brainwashed by Globe and Mail. Spell Huawei correctly first. Loser!

Sorry I'll spell it right this time.
WaahhhWay.
Wahhhway brings you patent infringements, clone ripoffs that don't work like the original, cut throat prices or giveaway thanks to the cash cow handout known as the communist government subsidy.
Shall I go on?

Generally I don't agree with you but this time you are right.
Huawei’s first GSM/CDMA base-stations were complete clones of Nortel's and Lucent’s.

yup they are cloning juniper, cisco and alcatel.

AlcatelLu---Nothing. Just selling same old stuff with bells and whistles.
----
re
Did you see?
ALU is $5 bill market cap company
with about $7 bill cash available...

Nortel's problem is Pension Plan or more specific the Pension deficit which must be more than $3 bill. Is it in the dockets? I did not check it.
If MP convince Pension Plan to wait and/or turn the debt into equity it would mean the new game for main creditors.
In case of firesale below $2 bill in total main creditors would get only about 25 Cents on a Dollar.

How on earth can you have a "zero sum game with losers all around"? Isn't a zero sum game one where what one set of players lose, the remaining players gain? Otherwise it wouldn't be zero-sum. What am I missing?

NSN new bid strategy is;

$650 M + 2500 employees

$900 M + No one

Some of the people tagged for CDMA are wireline (CVAS, MEN) resources, anyway. There's probably even Enterprise people on the CDMA transition list.

Buy the footprint and technology and make everyone apply for jobs, get the RIGHT resources for less $$$.

no MEN or Enterprise. maybe senior execs through revolving door.

Wouldn't that require a brand new bid? My understanding is that the primary terms & conditions of the Stalking Horse Agreement must be maintained throughout the auction process.

Since Digitcom is a known Avaya Reseller and not a Nortel Reseller, it will be interesting to see his comments should Silver Lake Partners become the Stalking Horse lead for Nortel Enterprise.

That is a really good point.

It's been a while since the vultures started flying around NT's employees, customer, and now assets. We know it has been a sad scene.

Here is a new dilemma for the jobs likely to be saved in Ottawa.
Bidding war could cost more Nortel jobs: Nokia Siemens

Toronto — Nortel Networks Corp. could face further job cuts if a bidding war breaks out for its assets, says an executive at Nokia Siemens Networks, which is the leading bidder for the fallen technology giant's wireless business.

Of course it will.
Nokia would have to raise their ante and they have to make up that somewhere. Headcount.

GUYS. BE REALISTIC. NSN is buying CDMA and LTE because of verizon installed base / footprint. 12-18 months after the acquisition all 2500 will be gone anyway...

At least NSN would layoff with a package and some sense of dignity.

That's the best people can hope for but better than current.

Of course the flip side is this.
The NSN exec comment is only valid if NSN wins the bidding war.
If they lose what he said means crap.
If NSN loses somebody else will have paid more money so jobs
are saved short term.
He forgot to mention that.

d

Dunn was an ex member too, and Manley's law firm is defending him.

The punch lines never cease as if Hackney jokes or buying opportunities or beconing a great company again in 3 to 5 years, etc., etc., etc... were not funny enough.

Heh, now old insiders again like Joannou and Spradley to keep the flame going... money burn that is with MP/EDC bagholders support, funny =)