Sunday, November 8, 2009

Ciena Receives Regulatory Clearance for Acquisition of Nortel's Optical and Carrier Ethernet

Ciena has received regulatory clearances regarding its proposed acquisition of substantially all of Nortel's optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets. In the United States, Ciena was granted early termination of the antitrust waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. In addition, Ciena also has received from the Canadian Competition Bureau a no action letter, terminating the applicable waiting period for the proposed transaction under the Competition Act.


As a result of Nortel's restructuring process, the proposed transaction remains subject to a competitive bidding process. It also requires the approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and is subject to additional regional regulatory clearances as well as to customary closing conditions.
http://www.ciena.com

  • In October, Ciena agreed to acquire all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business for $390 million in cash and 10 million shares of Ciena common stock. Based on the closing price of Ciena's stock on Tuesday, October 6, 2009, the full deal is valued at $521 million. The deal is subject to a competitive bidding process and higher offers could emerge. It also requires the approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.


    The deal includes Nortel's long-haul optical transport portfolio; metro optical Ethernet switching and transport solutions; Ethernet transport, aggregation and switching technology; multiservice SONET/SDH product families; and network management software products.