Ciena Offers $521-Million for Nortel Ethernet Business

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Ciena Offers $521-Million for Nortel Ethernet Business

4:30 pm on October 8, 2009 | Category: Business, Corporate

Just days after confirming that it was in talks to buy Nortel’s Ethernet unit, Ciena Corp. has offered to acquire the business for $521 million.

The offer includes $390 million in cash and 10 million Ciena shares, the two companies announced yesterday. Given that Nortel is legally bankrupt, the stalking horse offer will be subject to a competitive bidding process under U.S. and Canadian laws.

If Ciena is successful in acquiring the Nortel unit, it will be in a strong position to expand internationally, to supplement its primarily American customer base. Nortel provides Ethernet and optical networking equipment to a number of large carriers in Europe and Asia, which would presumably become customers of Ciena after the acquisition.