Nortel Wants Another Bankruptcy Extension

Chapter 7, also called a straight bankruptcy, is a liquidation proceeding. The debtor gives all non-exempt chapter 7 bankruptcy property to a bankruptcy trustee who then converts it to cash for distribution to creditors. The debtor is freed from all dischargeable debts, usually within 4 months. Chapter 7 is filed in cases where the debtor has few assets to lose, so this option gives a relatively quick release from debts. A debtor can file Chapter 7 again if more than 8 years have passed since discharge of a previous Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

This means one an only one thing.

Nobody is buying any of the businesses in the near term. MEN, CVAS and GSM are going to continue without much bidding.

So much for calling some of them crown jewels. Or executives mouthing hot air about all the interested companies.

By the time these sell, value is going to be in the sewer. One notch down from the toilet it is in after Ch 11.

These guys cannot even manage a Ch 11. Forget about running the business profitably.

Extension ! Nortel has been living on extensions for the last 10 years :

Yes we will re-structure, yes we will eventually publish our financial results on time, yes we have a plan coming, yes we will cut 1 billion of cost in our operations, yes we will be profitable next year, yes we will sell business and become a leaner and more focus company. All these years of postponing and delaying everything they said they will do to finally had to surrender and stab a lot of people on their backs.

Is there a judge with enough balls to tell them that the game is over !
''You put everything on the selling block now and you just leave !''

Nortel IS Enron

Curious...and an honest question.

Can you request an extension for the purpose of defining a restructuring plan if you actually have no intent to restructure?

What about all the previous extensions asked for and accepted? Why should it be any different now? The re-structuring "plan", or even intention for one must not be important. It seems when it's Notell, everyone that wields any decision making powers based on truth or justice looks the other way.

Sights set on liquidating all the way , from beginning till the end. Show me any different.

Creditors: Note that the second paragraph of this post is incorrect. Nortel is asking to extend the period by a plan of reorganization can be filed, not the date by which claims can be filed. Claims are still due by Sept. 30.

correction to one of my previous posts

Cash: 2.5 billion
Sales: 3.0 billion
IRS: 3.0 billion
------------------------
Cash: 2.5 billion
Debt: 10.0 billion
------------------------
Payout 25c / $

Good luck. What about all those damn tax credits Canada gave out for R&D. Thos are worth billions. How about Canada get its act together and take the remaining $2.5 billion and top up Nortel pension fund, pay severances and other credit owed to Canadian creditors.

...thus my tag name "ntpurgatory". The NTspiral of doom began in 2001 and won't be final until Jan 2011. Predict all divisions sold (that will sell ) by mid 2Q2010. Chapter 7 shortly afterwards and the last conference room chair sold by 4Q2010. Nortel buh bye by 1Q2011. Now, what sign to adorn the Richardson Tower building - Bank of America? perhaps match.com? Ed's garage? City of Richardson swap meet?

Richardson School for the Blind? No irony there, eh. The dozens of empty buildings surrounding it certainly woudn't hurt their morale on a daily basis. They wouldn't need any of that overhead interior lighting back that Nortel removed, unlike Cisco.

Nortel spokesman Jay Barta wouldn't comment how the company is responding internally to the posting [of their being spoofed on YouTube as a tyranny of dunces]. But he said depicting Nortel executives as Nazis crosses the line.
"It is extremely unfortunate that a single individual would choose to express his opinions in such a tasteless fashion," Barta said.

So, uh, WhatWouldJayDepict Nortel's history as having been akin to? Bambi? Old Yeller?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Yeller_(1957_film)

The Coates family ... is so poor the children have never seen a dollar bill, other than worthless Confederate dollars.

Thats Nortel - working for innovation, not profit.

While father Jim is away on a cattle drive, a scruffy "yeller" Blackmouth Cur mix visits the family uninvited and scares their mule, causing it to knock down a fence. Son Travis unsuccessfully tries to shoo him off, while his younger brother Arliss takes a liking to him. Travis eventually accepts the dog and a profound bond grows between the two.

Mike Z is Yeller, see.

Still Old Yeller's history of stealing food from others has caused him a bad reputation and the family's neighbor's daughter, Lizbeth Searcy, says she hopes he doesn't get into trouble because he is going to have puppies with their dog.

Yeller is like Joel Hackney gonna leverage them synergies.

Yeller's owner Mr. Burn Sanderson arrives looking for his dog but comes to realize that the family needs the dog more than he does and agrees to trade the dog to Arliss in exchange for a horny toad and a home-cooked meal. Mr. Sanderson later warns Travis that there is a "hydrophobia" (rabies) epidemic affecting several animals in the area and to be cautious.

Spirit of Mike Z again.

The family soon realize that Old Rose has not been allowing her calf to feed and that she may be rabid. Watching her stumble about Travis confirms it and shoots her. While Katie and Lisbeth burn the body that night, a rabid gray wolf attacks and Yeller is bitten and eventually develops rabies. With a breaking heart, Travis is forced to shoot Yeller. In doing so, he takes a painful first step into manhood. Depressed from the death of his beloved dog, Travis refuses the offer of a new puppy sired by Yeller. Around the same time, Jim comes home and, having learned of everything about Yeller, explains to his son the facts about life and death. Travis understands and adopts the puppy, naming him "Young Yeller" in honor of his sire.

Travis is Mike Z as well.

"Old Yeller, like the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars, has come to be more than just a movie; it has become a part of our culture. If you were to walk around asking random people, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who did not know the story of Old Yeller, some who didn’t enjoy it or someone who didn’t cry. The movie’s ending has become as famous as any other in film history."

Thats how Mike Z wanted it. Gwan, hold yer head high, Yeller!

What about this post from Barta? I want to talk to this guy..

http://community.nortel.com/go/blogs/buzzboard/2009/04/23/a-consumerfocused-cisco

What an a$$

Yeah thats what was keeping Nortel down...

More like the Barnie show with Z being the lead character singing clean up time.

Barnie most hated show. Nortel most hated company. See the similarity already?

Who CARES what Jay Barta says or thinks ?!!

He's gettin' paid -- so, does he REALLY care ?

Methinks not.

MC

Barta getting paid for cherleading at this point in Nortels history is kinda tasteless.

What if they said no to their bankruptcy extension... it is another ultimatum
No extension, then chapter 7
less value means less for all...

again, an ultimatum to circumvent further damage

yet always bonuses or more cash of course (like remaining directors after they ironically traded options again)

Money talks... it is all about money...

No extension, no reserve fire sale auctions... more damage

Is this really the lesser of evils if they are ripping off the buyers for their depreciating units?

What stops them from delaying liquidating to try the judge's patience? No wonder judge Gross was relieved.

Extending is the lesser of evils as usual ...like casinos padding healthcare... Who says there has to be any evil to begin with! Even OLG recently under fire , as they step in to monitor the tyranny they themselves created. Don't create the mess to begin with one might think is the key! Who backed Nortel? OSC, EDC?

At least now if Dunn wins his wrongful dismissal that Manleys law firm defends him on, he will have to join growing list of creditors =)

Nortel's exorbitant pay practices amid ripping off everyone like shareholders, employees, taxpayers, etc... and the best they can do is sue CEO/CFO for misleading, have RCMP criminally charge than DOJ as they keep paying themselves more...

Something remains wrong as banks/gov't seeing record profits/surplus before the recession, after jobless recovery in over decade old new economy, as we age poor...with greater tyranny the harder times get

Is anyone reading this stuff? What is being done about it?

As for shareholders presplit stock price from 120 to under 10 cents,

Correction
TSX - from 120 to under 2 cents before delisting
NYSE to Pink Sheets Now- from $80 to under a penny...

Destined to go to zero in a handbasket with their most prized assets sold so far not even fetching enough to pay their $3B tax bill... after vaporizing over $300B market cap

Another bankruptcy extension? Sure, why not ...throw in some extra cash for the remaining directors while they are at it... they're insured. =)

Divestitures are moving at a snail's pace. It's been 12 months now since Optical was offered for sale. Meanwhile, the execs and the employees who are lucky to hang onto their jobs are enjoying tidy payouts... while all the other players feast at the table. Makes one wonder why the U.S. creditors haven't told the courts, enough is enough -- time for mandatory Ch 7.

Why would the current creditors actually want and force a shutdown of the business and liquidation that would create an additional 20,000+ creditors? Sorry, but that is unlikely to happen.

they should shut them down on shear principal though, albeit you might disagree

Don't jump to conclusions. Ch 7 still allows for divestitures -- it's not a "lights off on Sept 30" or whenever. However, in essence the court takes control of the divestiture process. It would move a heck of a lot faster than the current process. Binning and the LC presidents have little or no incentive to seal the divestitures quickly, as it stands today.

It may be faster, but with substantially less value for the creditors and far more employees impacted.

We've seen a challenge in the CDMA/LTE deal and a complaint in the pending Enterprise auction. Both of these can create delays that really have very little to do with Nortel operating these businesses. It could easily get worse, especially for the CVAS auction given that the majority of the Canadian 911 system runs on Nortel. That is far more of a potential national security concern than the ownership of LTE patents.

A substantial part of the U.S. 911 system runs on DMS-100 too. And the acquiror will probably have to swear allegiance to CALEA here also.

As to whether the creditor value is increased or reduced by dragging out the divestiture process, there are different opinions. Enterprise revenues are melting rapidly, so the Enterprise divestiture had better close on schedule.

"and far more employees impacted"

don't fool yourself, the employees and technology will remain and subject to market forces, like energy being transferred in physics

the technology isn't about to vanish, Nortel is

Perhaps the best thing is to have the good employees move on sooner than later, do you not think?

reminds me that Hand in the Pocket run by one of the banks or credit cards.

E&Y, lawyers, accountants, investment bankers all of them. Leechers. All of them.

They get court extensions handed out like candy. This is a given.

They announced EDC extensions like this was good news, paired with their bad and still unreliable numbers.

They sleep with their fox looking after the chicken coup pals at the OSC who fined them nothing for Canada's largest fraud settlement. The SEC, Currie called their "friends", also fined them shockingly little albeit in all fairness at least they charged officers Nortel was reluctant to chase even after repeated requests and where one of their board members law firm defends him from fraud charges.

The defrauding from day one green CEO who promoted his pal over a veteran was reluctant to testify at a government inquiry how they could pay bonuses yet cut severances. He claimed this was to maintain value as liquidated the very next business day. Charged with his new CFO (after so many insider only CFO's) for misleading as fraud trials loom, and ironically trading losing options for cash defeating the incentive of why they got them to begin with than a salary.

They hold close relationships (or held) at many high levels (understandably), from past sentiment as Canada's high tech flagship but this has sunk with over 2/3rds of their manpower from its peak and revenues disproportionately lower on business units they get rewarded to fire sale, like financial innovation, or anything else they can loot and always have from rewarding technological innovation to rewarding financial innovation with the most common motive to white collar crime (bonuses) remaining the carrot.

As for shareholders presplit stock price from 120 to under 10 cents, Little guys severances and pensions cut to appease their big business creditors (reason for this extension too). Even their stakeholders take a bath with this recent $3B tax and penalty that gets paid first.

They pay bonuses, legal fees, increased lawsuit insurance premiums, etc., before their growing list of creditors and now they get whacked with a $3B tax and penalty charge into the close. What will be left as they extend even greater losing operations into the close. How much worse can it get?

This delay is because they are selling their business units under Chapter 11 than the courts /trustee under Chapter 7 with no reserve. Yet they depreciate by the day.

Why are they getting these extensions? As Monty Python would say, because they can. Simple as that. This is Nortel we're talking here as fraud trials loom on both sides of the border, CFO/CEO get new charges, taxman steps in, and they step out after boasting they could have ran an even larger company... heaven forbid. =)

Their powerful army of lawyers can rewrite the laws of physics for heavens sakes, ultimatum settlements refusing to negotiate pay practices, tank the settlement to claim profit, downplay mega revisions or researching bankruptcy itself after Binning was on board so long... heck, they can do what ever they want... it is endless.

"12-18 months"

"Surprise, surprise surprise," said Gomer Pyle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_1Pw1xm9U

Nah... here is the better translation: there is still some cash left for executive bonuses and legal charges....

What would be the legal justification to deny this request given the time line requested is still less than the typical time line of 18 months granted under US law?

move this Chapter 11 circus to Chapter 7 and get the damn thing over and done with.

1- Because Nortel as no re-org plan,everything is for sale, no ?
2- Because they are loosing hundreds of millions each quarter while they still operate.
3- So I really don't see how an extension is positive for creditors
4- They where able to sell the wireless business, what are they waiting for to expedite the rest ?
5- I see no reasons why the court should not pressure Nortel to do exactly what they said : sell every business line asap and stop the bleeding for the creditors who by the way are the only ones getting screwed here !

RESTRUCTURE for Nortel - in its dictionary - has meant "a method to SCHEME so that execs and BoD get bonuses and continue to collect fat paychecks ..."

It never meant to restructure debt, sell and restructure business untils, etc. ... never in the plan. The SCHEME on the other hand - the idea to siphon as much as possible from the tank - has been the best executed strategy Nortel has accomplished in years.

Imagine if they'd put so much effort and thought into innovation and revenue generation as they did THE SCHEME?

Yep, just imagine. F*ckers ! As I and others posted previously- where the hell is the media on this?? Why is no one camped outside Z's house to ask him questions? There should be public outrage. People here (U.S.) were pissed and outraged about corporate mis-deeds, lies, bonuses and fraud even if they had no personal stake in the matter. It was the IDEA that this could happen that threw us here into public and Capitol Hill outrage. We demanded answers ! Why is this not happening? They just keep doing whatever they want because no one is stopping them.

Basically extension for useless executive and upper management people to continue to collect their fat paychecks.

The judge will approve it too....so he and his lawyer friends can continue to benefit as well

whole system is corrupted

Nortel is requesting the extension because it would give the company more time to “file a plan of reorganization and solicit support for such a plan….”
====
re
More lies and more lies
We have just heard that Mike stabilized the process to the point that CEO was not needed anymore. What a lie!
In other words, nothing would go wrong without the CEO.
The process was stabilized and simplified.
so the obvious question is why Nortel wants more time and wants to create a Plan for restructuring?
Is it just to reverse the trend which Mike Z started and to make the process complex and difficult again? another lie! Nothing can be reversed!
If so, Mike lied about stabilizing and simplifying! confirmed
As I remember the date was Sept 11 not Sept 30 as some posters here think.
My comment on the new development
The tax claims of $3 bill kills all the hope creditors had.
There will be nothing left to fight for.
and one more time Nortel is exposed for the crooked accounting.
In 50 years from now archaeologists will dig out the accounting books from the basement of Nortel's HQ showing $3 bill in unpaid taxes.
Pavi B did not see the books, did he?
Did F Dunn hide the books?
I remember SEC charging F Dunn with cooking the books and charging with creating a company_using a company to hide there some liabilities.
Let me look for that link
one is here
http://www.huliq.com/14753/former-senior-executives-of-nortel-networks-charged-in-financial-fraud-scheme
some of it with names here
Sep 13, 2007 04:30 AM
Chris Sorensen
Business Reporter

Four ex-finance officers at Nortel Networks Corp. are being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly helping former chief executive Frank Dunn and two other former executives manipulate the books in order to meet earnings targets, fake profits and pay performance-related bonuses.

Douglas Hamilton, Craig Johnson, James Kinney and Kenneth Taylor were all named as defendants in an amended complaint filed by the SEC in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the SEC said yesterday. The four were former vice-presidents for Nortel's optical, wireline, wireless and enterprise business units, respectively.

The SEC initially filed suit in March against three former corporate officers of Nortel for their alleged role in the accounting scandal. In addition to Dunn, the original suit names former CFO Douglas Beatty and controller Michael Gollogly.
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/256019
=====
It looks like trials are just behind the corner!
We, the public, have been waiting for that so loooong.
Who will start first?
Canada /criminal charges/ or US with civil charges /as I remember/
It would be like breathing fresh air... believe me.

cont.
The Commission filed an amended complaint in SEC v. Dunn, et al., Civil Action No. 07 CV 2058 (S.D.N.Y.), to add as defendants Douglas A. Hamilton, Craig A. Johnson, James B. Kinney and Kenneth R.W. Taylor, who were the former vice presidents of finance for Nortel's Optical, Wireline, Wireless and Enterprise business units, respectively.
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20275.htm
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 20275 / September 12, 2007

1. Douglas A. Hamilton Nortel's Optical,
2. Craig A. Johnson Nortel's Wireline,
3. James B. Kinney Nortel's Wireless,
4. Kenneth R.W. Taylor Nortel's Enterprise,

Litigation Release No. 20546 / April 30, 2008
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2008/lr20546.htm


On April 30, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) announced that Craig A. Johnson, James B. Kinney and Kenneth R.W. Taylor — who were the vice presidents of finance for the Wireline, Wireless, and Enterprise business units of Nortel Networks Corporation (“Nortel”), respectively — agreed to settle the Commission’s charges against them arising from their alleged involvement in Nortel’s earnings management fraud during 2002 and 2003. Each has consented, without admitting or denying the Commission’s allegations against them, to the entry of a final judgment in the Commission’s litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The final judgments, which are subject to approval by the Honorable Loretta A. Preska, order each individual to pay a $75,000 civil penalty and to pay disgorgement in the amount of $66,845 (Johnson) and $52,000 (each for Kinney and Taylor), along with prejudgment interest in the amount of $21,186 (Johnson) and $16,481 (each for Kinney and Taylor). The final judgments also bar each individual from acting as an officer or director of any public company for five years and permanently enjoin each individual from violating the antifraud and falsification of books and records provisions of the federal securities laws —cut
The final judgments for
Nr 2 Craig A. Johnson Nortel's Wireline,
Nr 3 James B. Kinney Nortel's Wireless,
Nr 4 Kenneth R.W. Taylor Nortel's Enterprise,
So conclusion that

Nr 1 Douglas A. Hamilton Nortel's Optical, so he’s not settled??

Now comes the heavy one
http://sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20036.htm

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 20036 / March 12, 2007
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 2576 / March 12, 2007
SEC v. Frank A. Dunn, Douglas C. Beatty, Michael J. Gollogly and MaryAnne E. Pahapill (a.k.a. Mary Anne Poland), Civil Action No. 07 CV 2058 (S.D.N.Y.)
SEC Charges Four Former Senior Executives of Nortel Networks Corporation in Wide-Ranging Financial Fraud Scheme
A Frank A. Dunn
B Douglas C. Beatty
C Michael J. Gollogly
D and MaryAnne E. Pahapill



Don’t forget to click on link at the bottom of the page or my link to see charges
Here
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:gDgyyqGGREUJ:www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2007/comp20275.pdf+sec+Dunn,+in+particular,+made+known+his+lack+of+respect+for+Nortel%27s+control+organization,+which+he+saw+as+an+impediment+to+the+company%27s+ability+to+do+business&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a
and this
"The fraudulent conduct at issue here was egregious and long-running. Each of the defendants betrayed Nortel's investors and their misconduct gave rise to billions of dollars in shareholder losses," said Linda Thomsen, Director of the Commission's Division of Enforcement. "The action we take today sends a strong message that officers of U.S.-filing foreign corporations will be held to the same standards of accountability that are required of all participants in the U.S. financial markets."
Comment and Question
When and how much for them?
Btw
That’s what wikipedia says about F Dunn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Dunn
In Canada F Dunn and others have been charged too
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/on/news-nouvelles/2008/08-06-19-imet-eipm2-eng.htm

The fraudulent conduct at issue here was egregious and long-running. Each of the defendants betrayed Nortel's investors and their misconduct gave rise to billions of dollars in shareholder losses," said Linda Thomsen, Director of the Commission's Division of Enforcement.




yes thanks for reminding us of this and putting it back under the spotlight.

You know what they say ....if you find one cockroach in a given area,you can be sure that there are others that lurk and this perfectly sums up Nortel's management practices.

TiC is forever responding to various bloggers opinions with a perceived diplomatic approach to justifying how management is handling Nortel's bankruptcy process,I think it is pretty safe to assume that some Nortel insiders know of his presence on this blog which is designed to neutralize many of the ugly truths that are quite apparent concerning Nortel.

The real truth though is that if any of Nortel's leaders really cared about Nortel's businesses they would have acted quicker and perhaps even have avoided bankruptcy filing knowing that this process would result in Nortel's revenues falling of a cliff due to customer uncertainty that is usually associated with filing for bankruptcy protection.

The more I think about it the more I believe that when Z came aboard he was warned of the notorious Nortel culture,but insisted he could improve the overall financial health of the company with his overly hyped processes like 6 sigma and other failed promises.

At least TiC can't be accused for being unloyal to the hand that feeds him.

At one point in the past I thought you are a mental case_sick. I am so glad find you healthy in that regard and just naive to believe Nortel's lies and deception.
Criminal trials in Canada would give all of us some answers, final conclusions and optimism that governments care about citizens.
Wish you luck and I hope you will be fine in your future life. We all should focus on future and let the past be just a reminder that there are millions of honest, hardworking people and few crooks like Nortel's CEOs and Direcs who take advantage of that.
What do you think about Mike Z resignation?
Did he do it on his own or was voted out of the picture?

"Although it's been said, many times, many ways:

"This is the Way. This is Nortel."

Business Made Simple....we just dont pay our debts/creditors...money to our own pockets

Mike Z and his corrupted pals are genius

Should come as no surprise. This leadership has failed to live up to any commitment or schedule, so why should this be any different. The only difference is that the Judge has the right to reject the offer and seek to move the company to liquidation. Just to recap, no CEO, a shim of a board, E&Y is taking more control, and they need time for a reorganization plan. Puhlease.....