Ericsson Wins Wireless Auction

Isn't Flextronics, concerned that its contractual rights and claims may be affected by the proposed sale of these CDMA and LTE assets to Ericsson?

Who will win the bid for Nortel's enterprise unit?

you be the judge
Vote here

http://www.learnmyself.com/personality.asp?p=ta...

It is with disappointment that I respond to this blog as I was quite hopeful that NSN would prevail in the auction. In the end we did not but I thought some closure to the CDMA team and myself might be helpful.

It was personally and professionally great to get to work with all of you again. My colleagues were really impressed with each of you and your passion for your customers and R&D designs. That was no surprise to me from my days of working with you in the past.

I do not of course consider this the 'end' for any of us. For most of you it will mean a new company and new horizons. For NSN we will continue to push forward into the North American market. We have, in the last year , had the good fortune of winning the wireless networks for 3G overlay build at Telus and Bell Canada and we are in the process of building new 3G networks for Videotron and Globalive, IMS at Time Warner and Verizon to name a few. I do not mention these to sound overly confident but simply to say that we started out in NAM knowing it was a competitive marketplace that many vendors covet and no surprise CDMA and LTE are no different. It means that we will now move forward in a different way but we will not give up, nor would any of you, nor would the marketplace expect us to do so.

The entire team at NSN enjoyed meeting many of you and will look back on the last few months and know that we met some very great people and hope you felt the same of us.

Thank you and best of luck to each of you.


Sue Spradley

Wireless Auction..Nice nowdays all people liking the wireless Connection.I am also Using the Ericsson Mobile..& internet for my I usually check my internet speed test using the site http://www.ip-details.com/internet-speed-test/..laptop

The Swedes should sue Nortel for copyright infringement, specifically "stealing the color blue from our flag". The current BoD would be just dumb and arrogant enough to throw a few 10 million $$$ at 'em in "token of goodwill".

"stalking horse auction" - better name would be "the TROJAN horse auction"! ;)

....."The bid was more than 50% higher than Ericsson’s original bid of $730-million – and exactly what Research in Motion was willing to pay for the assets if it had been approved as a qualified bidder."""""

had R.I.M been present in the auction, I am certain the winning bid would have gone higher than $1.13B

It looks like RIM did bid probably in partnership with MatPat and they lost the auction
example
MP $1.100 bill
E// $1.105
....
E// $1.130

The media coverage we’ve seen this week, and the eventual purchase price, underscore the value the industry places on these assets. In my discussions with Ericsson it has always been clear that they place a high value on our strong customer base, our best-in-class technology and innovation, our world-class operations, and most of all on you; our talented and committed employees.

I must have made a mistake. I thought Nortel had gone bankrupt because it could not pay its bills. I had no idea they were doing so well. The shareholders are going to be very pleased with the results produced by their management.

BNR was a world class research facility. Its campus is now going to be taken over the the federal government to house civil servants. Nortel was no Avro Arrow but BNR was more than that. The government killed the Arrow but Nortel management killed BNR. How much did teh shareholders pay this mangement group to do it?

Now enterprise gains importance for us because it has complexity and covers a set of regions globally, would MP try its second chance here in this business? i do not believe in but would like to...

Dear Magnus,

First let me say how happy I and the team are with your purchase of Nortel CDMA. I love Sweden - the Swedish Bikini Team, ABBA, Bjorn Borg, Meatballs, just about everything. I am proud to be a member of Ericsson now and look forward to a long long career kissing Swedish butts instead of American and Canadian butts (your butts are nicer and smell better too). I have some sycophantic ideas that will bring value to Ericsson, but more about that later. Did I mention I love Sweden? Forgot to say that I am giving up on Ethan Allen and will be refurnishing with IKEA. Also trading in my Porsche for a Saab. Don't listen to all the sourpusses on this blog - they do not matter - only you matter (and any of your other Swedish exec colleagues that I meet along the way). You will love our Nortel GIS sessions (we fired all the people who asked embarrassing questions), Zmails (now renamed MagnusMails), Powerpoint slides (we have the beta version of Powerpoint 2015 for max visual effect) and our outsourced support (China and Elbonia are lovely at this time of year). I am sure you are as excited as I am to get started on this new adventure!! Did I mention that I love Ericsson's logo - blue is my favorite color!

Your best new buddy
Richard Lowe
Just call me Dickie

This is hilarious.....I love it.

... (we fired all the people who asked embarrassing questions) ...

*snort*
That's pretty good :)

Comments from NSN on the auction outcome....

“Our final offer for Nortel’s assets represented a fair price, and we did not enter this process with a win-at-any-cost mindset,” said Bosco Novak, Chief Markets Operations Officer, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Ours was an opportunistic bid aimed at supporting the great progress we’ve made in North America in the past 18 months, and we are very confident that momentum will continue to grow.”

http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=179678

Like with NSN, not even a word for ASIA and EMEA employees _ who are not part of the deal_ in Mike Z mail.
This management gives me the nausea. A few years ago I was proud to be a NN employee, I am today almost happy to leave...

- Ericsson to acquire majority of Nortel's North American wireless business

in ericsson's web page, it is said that the sale is only for the North American assets, so this sale process only affects the Nortel subsidaries which are already under administration(bakruptcy protection). So does this mean china cdma will be in Nortel's management, not E///?

I believe this means CDMA team in China should start to look for another job...
The rip of the NN GSM base already started a few months ago. I suppose CDMA will follow the same way (if not already started)

-- Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has today entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the parts of the Carrier Networks division of Nortel relating to CDMA and LTE technology in North America.

But this is the proof that they will not being affected from this deal. But later if they decide to liquadate china or where else they will do it with another asset sale agreement.

NTblinker,

Are you suggesting that Nortel will do an asset sale of the Carrier businesses on a regional level, i.e. China, EMEA, CALA?

Without the intellectual property assets sold already to Ericsson, just what value is left for the Carrier business on a regional level?

Certainly, they can't be pinning their hopes on local relationships.

i wonder how this process will affect the jobs outside north america related with the CDMA business support of the installed base in NA region?

ez answer for america structure, almost everybody is gonna be layoff, moved to nortel NBS or in best escenario will retain a few "talents" as contractors.(non payroll workers)

I would have been happier with NSN, but at least the wait in limbo is over. My concern is that E/// has a case history of pulling jobs back to Sweden on a regular basis.

you mean like Nortel would pull European jobs back to US and Canada on a rgegular basis - turnabout is fair play

Fair, not fair, it happens. And it's something to be concerned about. The days of retiring with your company are long long long gone.

What this really proves is that it is easy to sell assets for $1.3 billion, if you have paid several billion more to develop them

The Nortel way of selling. Get some 100 dollar billls and sell them for 10 and then announce a strong sales performance

Hear about the Nortel counterfiter. He spent a $1000 to create a perfect counterfiet $100 bill

So the captain is the first one to abandon the sinking ship and rush to secure a life boat and make a press release about it.... Wonderful leadership indeed Mr Lowe.

She can't take it any more Captain, she's going to blow I use to reiterate... but these execs have second lives after it does... some, maybe like a cat

MZ: "We have said all along that Nortel’s businesses have considerable value"
MZ: You all peons are wrong about me. I started the stalking horse bid at $650M now we got $1.13B... Great performance eh. Bonus me now!!!

MZ: If I allowed RIM to bid, hehehe we could fetch $2.2B. Well I learned the lesson I will apply to next bidding for ES and MEN...

Nortel or ex-Nortel insiders present in all of the bids does not bode well

None shook the old guard... the fox still guards the chicken coup...Joannou(MP), Spradley(NSN), Lowe(Eric)...

RIM was missing in action as the Canadian government looks into blocking the sale and the sale also awaits creditor approval for possible more news... albeit I doubt it with government not wanting to interfere with the court process, yet one still never knows...

________________________________________________


Working in 175 countries, more than 75,000 employees generated revenue of (USD 32.2 billion) in 2008. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 1 billion subscribers and has a leading position in managed services.

Ericsson to acquire majority of Nortel's North American wireless business

Ericsson will get CDMA contracts with North American operators such as Verizon, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Bell Canada and Leap, as well as LTE assets, and certain patents and patent licenses relating to CDMA and LTE.

Nortel's North American CDMA operations generated $2 billion last year
Ericsson's North American business generated around $2.7 billion of sales.

Saturday's deal will make North America its largest region, with around 14,000 staff.
Ericsson expects the acquisition to have a positive effect on its earnings within a year

Nortel said it would stay focused on finding the right buyers for its other businesses.


Lots of news on this, basically reiterating same stuff

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/07/24/nortel...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124849670377181...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALe...

http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/releases...

__________________________________________

good news? bad news? just news... I dunno... insiders doesn't sound good to me though

Ericsson already has won business with ATT and Verizon for LTE. They already have R&D and products, this was probably worth more to them by keeping NSN from having a viable product (Keeping LTE to 2 major players).

Also, with Sprint Operations now being Ericsson and now NT CDMA is Ericsson, should be interesting to see how that works out.

Glad they got more money, as an unsecured creditor, that should help on Aug 4th!

Yes, they are most likely just going to shut down the LTE team. Though at least there will be severance for some. But certainly not as good as the NSN deal for employees.

NSN needed the people, Ericsson doesn't.

severance, likey not. seems to be number one thing on employee minds.

Should Ericsson proceed to layoff/shut down the LTE team, those engineers can always go and knock on NSN's door. Their challenge will be persuading NSN that their ideas/skills have value; yet, will not infringe on current NT patents transfering to Ericsson.

It isn't that simple. Buying an intact team with a software base and IP ready to roll is a great way to start.

Trying to build a new team one hire at a time, re-writing all the software from scratch will set them too far back to even bother. NSN won't be setting up shop in Ottawa now.

Ericsson already had an LTE product, thats why they were selected for phase 4. They have R&D, manufacturing and scientists. They have pretty good white papers on their site.

They may take a few who know the IP, but who else? How many positions in LTE are redundant to what they have already?

My contention is that its worth more to them to take NSN out of competition then the value of the assets. If NSN was going to get, say 20% of a 2B market, now they won't, half that will go to Ericsson (the other to ALU).

Unfortunately NSN doesn't have a significant presence in Canada or even in US, in the wireless infrastructure business. Ths is why the needed the people and not just the business, IP and footprint.

Perhaps now the Canadian government could step in and impose a few conditions (keep some business in Canada) when the time comes to approve the sale, although I doubt they'll do it.

If NSN are smart, they could open now a shop in Ottawa and start hiring, before the offers from E/// are accepted.They will have a LTE team in no time and ready to put a prodcut on the NA market fairly soon...

How about an open letter to NSN from the R&D ranks...?

Ericsson has a large lab in Montreal and is sole supplier to Rogers.

I hope atleast some hot swedish blondes start roaming our tech labs... lets integrate baby ;-)

This engineer, for one, welcomes his new Swedish overlords.

Employees already got a welcome from E///. Means whoever got it are moving? This was quick.

No. The welcome was blanket to CDMA/LTE. They have a lot of sorting to do, unlike NSN which had already sorted. Now we bite our nails...

NTInfidel
You switched your loyalty to NSN too soon.
Mike Z warned you about that in this post
http://community.nortel.com/go/blogs/buzzboard/...
During this time, employees must remember that they should continue their ongoing duty to act in the best interest of Nortel and not any potential purchaser.

In addition to the auction process and Ontario Superior Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court approvals, the agreements are subject to other customary approvals, including government approvals such as in Canada and the U.S.

I had no idea who would win, just who I wanted to win.

No doubt myself and most affected personnel wanted NSN to win as it was best for employees. Ericsson is pretty much the worse case scenario.

NSN was the best choice for Employees, Ottawa and Canada. Ericsson is the best choice for Ericsson. There will be no long term lab here. They are buying for the installed base.

Many will be out of scope and be let go with no severance. The lucky might get slightly more than a years employment to transition the work.

I think Richard has done a great job over the years. Certainly the only unit making any money in the past decade. I guess E// thought so too. His staying on board must have been a condition to the bid. With this new role and the fact that he successfully got his deferred wages out just before the demolition signs went up, I'd say he's doing just fine. Congrats, Richard!

@SleeplessinToronto:"I think Richard has done a great job over the years"

Care to tell us about some of his accomplishments?

Accomplishment #1: Fastest to find a life boat amongst 3100 people.

Kanna du säga du er historia Nortel?

Milanson

Sie war echt Käse

Quick Poll:
---------------

Question: Are you happy that Ericsson won the CDMA/LTE auction over NSN and MP?

http://www.learnmyself.com/personality.asp?p=ta...

(EDIT: ** link corrected **)

Richard Lowe did run CDMA successfully and made it very profitable. I do not have as much inside info as most of you have, but CDMA did generate money. What is so funny about him being COO? How is that any difference than NSN taking over? Ericsson has lot of going on than NSN and chances for employees finding jobs in goups are better if not same. Why is it bad for CDMA R&D guys? Thanks.

http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/releases...

"Ericsson to acquire majority of Nortel's North American wireless business"

"Going forward, research and development costs are expected to be relatively low in CDMA compared with other technologies."

Richard Lowe did run CDMA successfully and made it very profitable. I do not have as much inside info as most of you have, but CDMA did generate money.
----
re
Looks like the most profitable part of Nortel corp is gone for $1.1 bill
I don't think creditors looking at the rest of Nortel can be happy with that deal.
$4.5 bill bonds, $4 bill or more Pension deficit, and all other creditors, like suppliers, employees ...you name it
Billions in tax credits will be lost /probably/
The winner of that auction is Verizon, Richard Lowe and his GEniuses.
question to all
What will happen on July 30 when "the bankruptcy protection" ends in Canada?

"What will happen on July 30 when "the bankruptcy protection" ends in Canada?"

They will apply for another extension on their extended extension's extension

They will amend the amended amendments of an emended amendment with their supplier

They will request additional funding amid uncontrollable laughter excluding the EDC who will actually give it to them

They will place insiders into only the companies they are willing to sell to

Departing insiders will get a golden telephone with pre-programmed speed dial to the OSC and their lawyers

Their lawyers will litigate super nova intergalactic immunity clauses with over a century of billings to be paid before creditors

They will boast maintaining value while rewriting the definition of assets to include baby donkeys

Mr. Manley 's law firm will defend Joel for throwing shoes while screaming at he can do what ever he wants

Their Insurance company will deny coverage under they were only kidding clauses

Mike will continue to happy talk how wonderful the process has proven over the years and how he enjoyed being CEO of this great company of talented engineers and wonderful technology until he is carried away to paint eggs in a Chicago rehabilitation center

Shareholders will evil eye the government, OSC, and SEC as Skilling and Ebbers apply for early parole

...anything but Chapter 7 =)

Shareholders will evil eye the government, OSC, and SEC as Skilling and Ebbers apply for early parole

...anything but Chapter 7 =)
----
re
What about creditors in that process?
MatPat did it once. They protested, they engaged in the comédie of bidding for what's legally theirs. Would they do that again?
Would judge do it again?
How long it will be prolonged? Until there is Zero cash in the Bank?
Idling costs are huge I guess.
btw
MatPat did not get much support from other creditors. Does it mean MatPat is fighting alone to get more value for their Loss on Nortel's investment?
If CDMA was the most valuable part question is what's left?
and there are those tax credits! Will RIM get them and how?

Same as usual. Extension.

ha ha ha Lowe as COO. ha ha ha. Lowe COO ha ha ha

sounds like E/// products will now move to laggard status. And E/// will get filled with dorks from Nortel screwing up their management structure.

Lowe as COO ha ha ha

Clean out the cronies and finally can make some money.

Get rid of the directors who have plush jobs forwarding emails without a hint of original thought

Does anyone know if the Ericsson purchase is good for Nortel CALA or bad?

The asset sale refers only to the North American Carrier business so what's in the cards for Alvio and his Sunrise gang?

BAD, bid's were only for NA operations (+ caribbean).
all the latam cdma ops are going to be transfered to NBS or kicked out.
the dirty part here, is that even cala engineers who supported networks "in scope" are out of the game, as heavy weights on richardson/etc prefered to retain groups that are closer.

open question, havin E/// as winner, will this prevent them for offering on other assets?
I think NT gsm also have considerable big installed base on at&t and T-mobile

nothappy,

wow, anyone being transferred to NBS cannot count their blessings for long since that lifeline can't last more than 90 days...so Nortel is abandoning the LatAm carrier business market such as VoIP and handing it to the likes of ALU on a silver platter...ALU executives in LatAm have to be happy about that

Yeah baby!

The "Welcome Nortel Employee's" page has been taken off the NSN website .. What a shame!

Who is #1?

Richard Lowes email to CDMA/LTE employees confirms that atleast 2500 employees would be moving to E//.

Sounds & smells like a short term affair for most.

E// is in for the footprint.

Industry Minister, Tony Clement, this is the time for you to negotiate and get some job guarantees from these clowns before you approve this deal from a Govt perspective. Perhaps we should all send him emails: Clement.T@parl.gc.ca

To: Global CDMA/LTE employees
From: Richard Lowe, President, Carrier Networks

I’m writing to you from an imposing law office in New York, where a few hours ago Ericsson placed the winning bid of $1.13B for substantially all of our CDMA business and portions of our LTE Access assets in a court sanctioned auction. While we still have i’s to dot and t’s to cross (including court approvals in the U.S. and Canada as well as regulatory approvals), completion of this agreement will see more than 2,500 Nortel employees move to Ericsson to establish them as a CDMA and LTE leader with a stronger North American base, improved profitability, and a deeper LTE technology capability. This is a great outcome for our customers, partners, suppliers, creditors and employees – and for Ericsson. Today is a day to celebrate – and I thank you all for your hard work in reaching this milestone.

The media coverage we’ve seen this week, and the eventual purchase price, underscore the value the industry places on these assets. In my discussions with Ericsson it has always been clear that they place a high value on our strong customer base, our best-in-class technology and innovation, our world-class operations, and most of all on you; our talented and committed employees. Although much of the work has been behind the scenes, we have been in deep discussion with Ericsson for several months, and in that time I have gotten to know their management team very well. I can say that, without a doubt, the Ericsson and Nortel cultures are deeply complimentary. And I’ve personally been impressed with their ability to knock down obstacles and move forward with quiet determination. There is much that our respective teams can learn from each other.

For Nortel, this announcement is a significant step forward in the sale of our businesses. The company remains focused on finding the right buyers, and the recent stalking horse sale agreement with Avaya for our Enterprise business demonstrates how these discussions are advancing. The sale of our businesses remains the best path forward, and Nortel will continue to focus on maximizing value while preserving innovation, customer relationships and jobs to the greatest extent possible.

For the CDMA/LTE team, the close of the auction marks a starting point for detailed integration planning and preparation, but there are still significant steps left to complete the transaction, including court hearings in the US and Canada next week, as well as ongoing regulatory and commercial deliverables. Beyond that, please remember that this is a process, and that full integration will likely take months to complete. I would ask everyone to remain patient while we clear these last hurdles, and to never forget that our customers must be our primary focus throughout this process – a position I know Ericsson shares. In short, our priorities will not change on Monday morning, and no one should arrive at work unsure of what they need to do.

The next few weeks will be critical to enable us to get off the mark quickly however, and to move rapidly towards integration. More than 2,500 of you will eventually be receiving offer letters from Ericsson, though we will need some time to accurately determine the roles and structure of the final team. We will be moving to quickly re-form and re-start the integration planning process initiated while under the stalking horse process, but let me say in advance that not every answer will be fully worked out for a number of weeks yet. Our focus will be to move rapidly and with purpose to integrate our business into the Ericsson structure. The first step will be to introduce you to my new colleague Magnus Mandersson, the new President of Ericsson CDMA Operations, into whom much of our business will soon report. Magnus and I will host a webcast on Monday to provide more information and address as many questions as we can.

For those CDMA and LTE employees not in scope for the Ericsson transfers, we will be working quickly to provide you with a view of the alternatives ahead. The integration process is very dynamic, and while we will try to quickly identify every position required, there may be additional opportunities identified throughout the coming weeks as we move toward closure of the sale. Employees who have not received an offer by the close date either will remain with Nortel to support other businesses, or to join the NBS team providing transition services to the divested businesses, but in some cases may also see their roles eliminated. No matter the outcome, we will endeavor to be as transparent as possible and will keep you informed of the options as they develop. Again, nothing will change overnight.
In closing, let me again say that this team has done a great job in 2009 in the face of many obstacles – a fact Ericsson and Magnus are keenly aware of, and something they praised us for in their press release today. We now have a clear path ahead of us, but it’s still a difficult climb to regain our place atop the industry. And while the CDMA and LTE teams are the first to find a new home with another company, I remain confident that more of Nortel’s innovation and world-class employees will follow in our footsteps in the weeks to come.

Congratulations on making it to this important crossroads. I look forward to the road ahead with our new Ericsson colleagues at our side, and encourage you to reach out and learn for yourself what an excellent organization we are about to join.


Regards,
Richard

Sounds like it isn't over yet:

While we still have i’s to dot and t’s to cross (including court approvals in the U.S. and Canada as well as regulatory approvals)

there are still significant steps left to complete the transaction, including court hearings in the US and Canada next week, as well as ongoing regulatory and commercial deliverables

remain patient while we clear these last hurdles

The next few weeks will be critical

________________________________________

So what's worse case? No sale?

Forget MaPa, come to MaMa - Magnus Mandersson

Richard Lowes email to CDMA/LTE employees confirms that atleast 2500 employees would be moving to E//.
====
re
So the EDC deal will be the same for ERIC
$300 mill

ChaiTea, could you paste Lowe's email below herewith?

I am really happy that Richard Lowe got a job. Please let's all send a joint congratulations message to Richard. His long time dedication to Nortel has been very well appreciated!

Again, congrats Richard!

Mike Z

Hey Boss

When can we get going on Enterprise. If Lowe got COO then I should have a strong shot at it at Avaya. Can you speak with them to put in a good word for me. Please please Mikey. I love you.

JH

Mike,

I cannot thank you enough for your Leadership over the years and keeping me in my job in spite of screwing up all the carrier businesses except CDMA. But I have to go now, I need to get my nose up my new boss Magnus' butt.

Dickie Lowe

Hm. And Ericsson got so little press throughout... stodgy old company, they held back, sidled up, took over. Unlike the last incarnation of Nortel - the modern, dynamic, forward-faced recognized leader - I expect they'll eventually pay the bid they made, too?

Either way, keeping Richard Lowe ensures the NT savvy stays put. He alone is worth the extra $730-million spent. Not so sure about the rank and file......

I got an Ericsson phone, so I suppose I should dial some long distance in a show of solidarity and support?

Lowe as COO. Makes you laugh...then makes you cry...

I dont think it will be long

Right now he holds everyone hostage until they figure out the business.

But I agree, what an incompetent loser.

It 'tis a sad day for those who, as a core of their being, wake up each morning and do what is right and truthful for Nortel.

I guess I simply do not understand the pressures of having to decide between vacation homes in Aspen and Rio must do to one's soul.

Good riddance.

He had Sue Spradley wrapped around his finger. I hope he is losing some sleep over Ericsson - he has no cronies there.

Um....What are you reading. According the the ericsson site, they are still taking all 2500 employees...."Acquiring Nortel's North American CDMA business allows us to serve this important region better as we build relationships for the future migration to LTE. Furthermore, by adding some 2,500 highly skilled employees, of which about 400 are focused on LTE research and development, Ericsson reinforces and expands a long-term commitment to North America..."

http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/releases...

The creditors really got a great deal in this...they get 1.1B and still get to keep their IP and make money off that!

As a greedy creditor, I applaud Ericsson's bid and look forward to future Ebay-style auctions of Nortel's businesses. I will personally be bidding on Mike Z's 6-Sigma Wall Chart and Hackney's lightly used anger-management books.

If you are an ex employee greedy creditor good luck getting anything.
This 1.13 billion goes to big creditors, the lawyers and the pension fund first and foremost. Current pensioners/seniors who can't get another job will be favoured over recently laid off employees. That's why kosky minsky was granted sole rep on this front. The new annoumncement about law firms representing current employees is also very interesting. The ones laid off due to a sale will be given more consideration than laid off employees before the sale. Only makes sense.
You have to keep this creditor payback issue in perspective.
Even if wireless had gone for 2 billion the return for the ex employee would have been pennies on the dollar given the amount of huge debt and all the big groups that are first in line to be paid as noted above.
With the sale of the other businesses you are probably looking at around 2.8 billion Total. A far cry from the over 4 billion in debt the company owed although the final selloff of all the Nortel Real Estate should be interesting.
Heard a rumour that employees who get laid off due to a company takeover resulting in their services not being required become prioritized over ex employees who were laid off shortly after the BP protection .Gov't is going to help them and current pensioners out first. In line of course with all we've heard.

Keep in mind the company has $2.6 billion in cash also, on top of any money generated by these sales. That cash is not going to the buyers of any business

If you really think any of the cash on hand they have is going to creditors you are sadly mistaken.

Where else is it going to go? The creditors control Nortel right now - the creditors and their committees.

Mike, i wonder how you utilize this money? Would you use it to emerge from BK very soon or keep this BK process for a long time to avoid yourself and your company from the economic actors under the guard of courts? Guy finish this process as everyone don't want to see Nortel related news!

Bonus money

and this is the end of Nortel.Farewell to it.

... and good riddance.

Well guys don't you realize that the fact that Ericsson won means I have always gotten Nortel employees backs?
Thank you for the hard work you are doing for Nortel. I must say you are really a great deal!

Mike Z

A sad day for employees. From E// PR it sounds like they have little interest in the employees, seemingly none in the LTE employees. They spent over a billion for just the footprint.

I remember thinking MP would be bad, but this is even worse.

Dude, looks like same deal as for NSN " Ericsson has agreed to offer jobs to at least 2,500 employees of the Nortel units."

The original deal was structured for what NSN wanted. They specifically wanted LTE and had plans of integrating and building on it and building a wireless development center in Ottawa.

Ericsson has no such interest. They are obligated to take the same minimum number of employees in the package, because any left behind employees would represent a change in the deal. Any left behind employee becomes a Nortel liability even though NT won't pay severance.

But they will be looking to minimize where ever possible and those hired days will be numbered. 400 LTE employees * severance packages is what 20 million? Pocket change in this deal.

If you consider a severance package == continuing to work with your team on delivering what you have been working then sure they are equal, but I don't. I would rather have a job with my team, than severance in a month or two. Or worse finding you are out of scope with neither.

Ericsson is only buying for the footprint, this is worse deal for employees.

I dont think at the end of the day they will take as many employees as NSN would have.

Face it. They are paying 50% more...somebody will have to take the hit.

I am not impressed with Richard Lowe as a leader. I think COO is right to bridge the transition gap. my view is that RL and crew screwed up the two Gary's and then Mike Z. Nortel never changed and thats why we are here today.