Bankrupt Nortel Networks is selling what it called the last of its “significant" business ventures as it seeks to raise more money for creditors.
The insolvent telecom equipment maker said on Wednesday it’s letting go of its China-based Guangdong Nortel Telecommunication Equipment (GDNT) assets for $50 million. Ericsson in China is snapping up the division, which develops gear and services for CDMA, GSM and DMS technologies.
Ericsson already won Nortel’s highly prized wireless group at auction last year and has bought other Nortel assets – including GSM/GSM-R holdings – for pennies on the dollar.
Nortel and Ericsson plan to close the latest deal in 2011’s first quarter; the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions. Ericsson will offer jobs to all 1,100 GDNT employees, Nortel said.
Nortel called the GDNT sale a “milestone," since it’s the divestiture of the last of Nortel's valuable properties.
So far, Nortel has raised a little more than $3 billion for creditors, who do not include shareholders, retirees, pensioners or disabled workers.
