All About Nortel Starts to Wind Down

By Mark Evans | Published: April 5, 2010

sunsetAs many of you have probably noticed, AAN hasn’t been that active recently.

Part of it has to do with the fact the amount of news coming out of Nortel has dropped considerably, which is understandable given there aren’t many assets left in the portfolio.

As well, my digital marketing and social media consulting business, ME Consulting, has been extremely busy, which hasn’t left a lot of time for AAN.

After 1,622 posts, AAN – like Nortel – is nearing the end of its active life. I’ll probably do blog posts when there is big or interesting news, and AAN will continue to stay alive to serve as an archive for anyone interested in the sad decline of Canada’s flagship technology company.

It has been an amazing and fascinating run – one that I never envisioned happened when I decided to see if I could blog about a single company. Along the way, hundreds of employees, analysts, investors and interested parties have been extremely helpful so I would like offer everyone a huge “Thank You!”.

If you’re interested in some of the other things I’m doing within the blogosphere, here are a few places to get a fix:

- Mark Evans Tech, which covers everything from Google and Web 2.0 to Skype and Facebook
- Twitterrati, a blog devoted to Twitter
- Sysomos, a blog for Sysomos Inc., a social media monitoring company where I’m director of communications.

If you’re ever in need of digital marketing and social media strategy and tactics, ME Consulting offers a variety of services.

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  • freqmgr

    As NT's Richardson based PR lady said back in February/March of 2009 they saw no end to the number of extensions that they could have. This just goes to show that for once they were telling the truth. Probably part of the plan to begin with.

  • wasthere

    My question is why is it taking so long. LG is been on the block for more then a year. Since they are getting peanuts on this bankrupt sale, why can't they just liquidate the rest, which is not much anyway. I think some suckers are making a nice living of the carcass and for some reason creditors are too stupid to react.

  • closeshave

    what

  • scalppeeler

    If you total up all the monies collected with the sale of three business units so far I believe it is around 3 billion?
    You can likely add another 1 or 2 billion with the closure of CVAS, LG and MSS. That's between 4 and 5 billion. You add in the real estate and patents that might be sold and it could end up between 7 and 8 billion when all is said and done. That's not peanuts. Liquidation would have been the wrong decision and the gain from that would have been less than half of what they will likely end up with. The downside of course is after you pay all the legal fees and costs to keep the nortel name till the very end, coupled with the rumoured claims totalling around 40 billion the actual returns to the creditors is drastically reduced. So you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Liquidation would have meant less money from the liquidation but perhaps a better return for the creditors. Dragging it on means more money from sales but less return for the creditors based on all the variables mentioned. My cut on it anyway.

  • protosphere

    what restructuring? this is the first time a company liquidates like ch 7 under ch 11

    they kept the fraud bonuses, so many insider only CFOs before Binning sued for misleading with CEO who defrauds from day one then later promotes than fires criminally charged green pal, as fraud trials loom and past board plea bargains, current one had Manley who's law firm is defending Dunn in largest fraud in Canada that OSC fined them nothing, it is endless…

    What restructuring now? Everyone knows these bonus happy on steroids zero credibility bozos owe way too much to restructure a anything.

    Nortel is dead and should be given as much liberty as they extended by killing their employees and shareholders than their big business creditor pals, tyrants like our regulators, a fox looking after the chicken coup… a joke… only in Canada… how many Ebbers and Skillings are there that were hard to find, deserving quarter century sentences for what is politely termed “accounting scandal” for the largest fraud in Canada.

    They deserve no more liberties, What extension? For who?

  • wasthere

    I agree with you. I meant peanuts when we compare the price they got for the businesses they sold. Never got more then half the sales and in some cases 1/10 and even lower. So as far as I am concerned, it was more a liquidation then a real sale of businesses . Anyhow, nothing's left, so what are they waiting for to accelerate the liquidation ?

  • bankrupt_bob

    <<this is the first time a company liquidates like ch 7 under ch 11>>

    …don't know if it's the first time, but you sure hit the nail on the head with the rest of that statement!

  • bankrupt_bob

    A slower process than watching grass grow, for sure!

  • scalppeeler

    I actually think the prices nortel got for the businesses was quite high under the circumstances. Sales are just one factor in a large equation. It is sales minus what it took to make those sales which determines PROFIT. That is the keyword here. Even though a business made 1 billion in revenue or so they might have spent 800 or 900 million to get that billion in sales. If you look at it from that perspective I think nortel did quite well with what they got.

  • 4merEmployee22

    What the heck! I didn't even have to walk the streets to be mug!
    My pockets were quietly picked without a doubt by these white collar
    fraudsters!!!

    More Extensions, eh?

  • protosphere

    http://www.phoneplusmag.com/hotnews/nortel-cred…

    Nortel said on Wednesday it now has until July 22 to work out a plan to pay creditors. Nortel has made more than $3 billion in the past year by auctioning its various divisions; still, it holds $4.5 billion of long-term debt and owes billions more to suppliers, partners, pensioners and even to Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

    the bankrupt telecom equipment maker held about $251.2 million in cash, $56.8 million of which is restricted. Presumably Nortel will use some of the cash to make good on its intent to pay about $97 million over the next two years to certain workers who stay with the company as it winds down operations.

    Nortel’s most valuable resources are its patents. And analysts have said Nortel needs to sell those patents right away or risk their losing value as protections come close to expiring.

    _____________________________________________________

    heh, I also noticed LG did not exercise its first right of refusal for Nortel's majority share, that's all that's left, the patents and LG. Oh ya, and “extraordinary” bonuses of course, goes without saying.

  • yes4aapl

    first injustice? shareholders; money go to zero and their rights to say neglected!
    no protests or solidarity from other stakeholders visible
    next, creditors rights neglected by imposing chapter 11
    no protests or solidarity from other stakeholders visible
    pensioners and LTD employees neglected and robbed
    no protests or solidarity from other stakeholders visible
    severance and other benefits cut, jobs cut
    no protests or solidarity from other stakeholders visible
    Divide interests and rule!
    conclusion
    Bonuses will be paid on top of millions in salaries to the highest crooks at Nortel as always.

  • Lookahead

    News said Nortel is going to put its office building block in Ottawa campus for sale in the market. The estimated value could be 300 millions.

  • closeshave

    OT – Ah, well, its a balmy afternoon in the sticks surrounding music city, and I've got just the tune for all those who ever cared for Nortel:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUkGIsKvn0&feat…

    I see the dirty shadows of “Nortel” sign letters left behind on vacant facades, walk under miles of silenced cables in overhead ladders and runways, hear millions of dollars and untold livelihoods vanishing into the ether.

  • closeshave

    I wonder if Nortel is finally building another customized guitar to give to Wildflower! Festival this year…

  • exNTII

    3 months more of fine AAA steak.

  • wasthere

    Looks more like they could get 200 millions or even less for this 600 millions real estate investment. Bad management had a name : Northell Networks.

    '”This was the way'' ………. to bankruptcy

  • Nortel watcher

    So, can anyone in CVAS share with us how the job offers are coming along from the HR folks at Genband?

  • 4merEmployee22

    Extensions for WHO? Who else? but for all the freakin' Lawyers and
    Accountants to siphon off more money! What else?
    This is very very advantageous for the MONITOR E & Y, Inc.
    They had a guaranteed fee of more than $5,000,000 million dollars legal services already for a 1 year work! NOT BAD eh?
    WHEN ALL OF THESE ENDS? I REALLY WONDER IF THEY ARE
    COMPELLED TO DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC HOW MUCH THEY
    WERE PAID? OR WILL IT BECOME A SEALED INFORMATION?

  • 4merEmployee22

    ACCORDING TO THE MONITOR'S REPORT, FORMER EMPLOYEES
    ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SUE THESE EXECUTHIEVES!
    IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO FIND OUT ON WHAT GROUNDS OR
    BASIS THESE POOR EXECUTHIEVES WILL BE BROUGHT TO FACE
    ANY FRAUD TRIALS??????? IT HAS TO BE HARD DOCUMENTED
    PROOFS!

  • 4merEmployee22

    There's a saying “justice delayed is justice denied”
    So true with this NORTEL Bankruptcy Racket Protection
    Proceedings!

  • 4merEmployee22

    Extensions for WHO? Who else? but for all the freakin' Lawyers and
    Accountants to siphon off more money! What else?
    This is very very advantageous for the MONITOR E & Y, Inc.
    They had a guaranteed fee of more than $5,000,000 million dollars legal services already for a 1 year work! NOT BAD eh?
    WHEN ALL OF THESE ENDS? I REALLY WONDER IF THEY ARE
    COMPELLED TO DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC HOW MUCH THEY
    WERE PAID? OR WILL IT BECOME A SEALED INFORMATION?

  • 4merEmployee22

    ACCORDING TO THE MONITOR'S REPORT, FORMER EMPLOYEES
    ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SUE THESE EXECUTHIEVES!
    IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO FIND OUT ON WHAT GROUNDS OR
    BASIS THESE POOR EXECUTHIEVES WILL BE BROUGHT TO FACE
    ANY FRAUD TRIALS??????? IT HAS TO BE HARD DOCUMENTED
    PROOFS!

  • 4merEmployee22

    There's a saying “justice delayed is justice denied”
    So true with this NORTEL Bankruptcy Racket Protection
    Proceedings!

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