As previously announced, on June 19, 2009, Nortel(1) (OTCBB: NRTLQ) entered into a stalking horse sale agreement with Nokia Siemens to sell substantially all of its CDMA business and LTE Access assets, subject to higher or better offers being received. On June 29, 2009, in the U.S., and June 30, 2009, in Canada, the courts established bidding procedures for the auction of these assets. The auction is scheduled to take place on July 24, 2009. Throughout this process, Nortel has made every effort to ensure all who want to participate can, with the goal of achieving the best outcome possible for employees and customers and maximizing value for its stakeholders.
Nortel had been in discussions with RIM regarding a related transaction but those discussions are currently on hold. Since the approval of the bidding procedures, Nortel has engaged with a number of potential bidders regarding the CDMA and LTE assets, including RIM. Other parties moved expeditiously to comply with the court approved procedures to become qualified bidders, and RIM did not object to the approval of these procedures during the court process. It was not until July 15 that RIM submitted a letter to Nortel asking to be a qualified bidder and, since that time, Nortel has diligently attempted to work with RIM on acceptable confidentiality terms relating to Nortel’s valuable intellectual property assets. RIM has refused, however, to comply with the court approved procedures.
In order to participate in the court-approved bidding process, a qualified bidder is required to execute a standard confidentiality agreement. The agreement contains a common “standstill” provision that allows Nortel to ensure it is directly involved in any future negotiations on the sale of its assets. The standstill provision does not preclude future offers by a bidder to acquire assets consistent with any processes established by Nortel or the courts. Confidentiality agreements are a standard part of the auction bidding process and are designed to help run a fair process and protect a company’s confidential information, such as its intellectual property. All qualified bidders are subject to confidentiality agreements.
Nortel, the Canadian Monitor, the U.S. Unsecured Creditors’ Committee and the Ad Hoc Bondholder Group have reviewed the circumstances related to RIM and have concluded that all bidders must comply with the bidding rules in order to maintain the integrity of the court-approved process. Consistent with that process, the auction will commence as planned on Friday, July 24, 2009.
About Nortel
Nortel delivers communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.
Source:
Nortel Statement on Wireless Asset Auction
