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Nortel Completes Sale of Substantially All of Enterprise Solutions Business to Avaya

^{Published on 2009-12-18 12:30:13 - Market Wire}
 

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 18, 2009) - Nortel(1) Networks Corporation (OTCBB:NRTLQ) announced today that it, its principal operating subsidiary Nortel Networks Limited, and certain of its other subsidiaries including Nortel Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks UK Limited have completed the sale of substantially all of the assets of Nortel's global Enterprise Solutions business as well as the shares of Nortel Government Solutions Incorporated and DiamondWare, Ltd. to Avaya Inc. (Avaya). The sale of certain Enterprise Solutions assets held by Israeli subsidiaries remains subject to court approval in Israel and Nortel will continue to work diligently to obtain such approval. All other closing conditions have been satisfied. Under the terms of the sale, Nortel will provide certain transitional services to Avaya.

"This is our second, large-scale business divestiture, and it represents significant progress on Nortel's plan to preserve the value of its innovation, while maximizing value through the sale of its businesses," said Pavi Binning, Chief Restructuring Officer, Nortel. "The sale of our Enterprise Solutions business to Avaya enables customers to continue to benefit from Nortel-created technology, know-how and leading-edge innovation while also benefiting from the complementary capabilities offered by Avaya's portfolio of products and services. It also provides a path forward for more than 6,000 skilled employees who will now take their expertise to Avaya."

About Nortel

For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at [ www.nortel.com ] . For the latest Nortel news, visit [ www.nortel.com/news ].

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as "could", "expects", "may", "should", "will", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "targets", "plans", "envisions", "seeks" and other similar language and are considered forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities laws. These statements are based on Nortel's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, and the actual outcome may be materially different. Nortel's assumptions, although considered reasonable by Nortel at the date of this press release, may prove to be inaccurate and consequently Nortel's actual results could differ materially from the expectations set out herein.

Actual results or events could differ materially from those contemplated in forward-looking statements as a result of the following: (i) risks and uncertainties relating to the Creditor Protection Proceedings including: (a) risks associated with Nortel's ability to: stabilize the business and maximize the value of Nortel's businesses; obtain required approvals and successfully consummate pending and future divestitures; ability to satisfy transition services agreement obligations in connection with divestiture of operations; successfully conclude ongoing discussions for the sale of Nortel's other assets or businesses; develop, obtain required approvals for, and implement a court approved plan; resolve ongoing issues with creditors and other third parties whose interests may differ from Nortel's; generate cash from operations and maintain adequate cash on hand in each of its jurisdictions to fund operations within the jurisdiction during the Creditor Protection Proceedings; access the EDC Facility given the current discretionary nature of the facility, or arrange for alternative funding; if necessary, arrange for sufficient debtor-in-possession or other financing; continue to have cash management arrangements and obtain any further required approvals from the Canadian Monitor, the U.K. Administrators, the French Administrator, the Israeli Administrators, the U.S. Creditors' Committee, or other third parties; raise capital to satisfy claims, including Nortel's ability to sell assets to satisfy claims against Nortel; maintain R&D investments; realize full or fair value for any assets or business that are divested; utilize net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes in the future; avoid the substantive consolidation of NNI's assets and liabilities with those of one or more other U.S. Debtors; attract and retain customers or avoid reduction in, or delay or suspension of, customer orders as a result of the uncertainty caused by the Creditor Protection Proceedings; maintain market share, as competitors move to capitalize on customer concerns; operate Nortel's business effectively under the new organizational structure, and in consultation with the Canadian Monitor, and the U.S. Creditors' Committee and work effectively with the U.K. Administrators, French Administrator and Israeli Administrators in their respective administration of the EMEA businesses subject to the Creditor Protection Proceedings; continue as a going concern;
actively and adequately communicate on and respond to events, media and rumors associated with the Creditor Protection Proceedings that could adversely affect Nortel's relationships with customers, suppliers, partners and employees; retain and incentivize key employees and attract new employees as may be needed; retain, or if necessary, replace major suppliers on acceptable terms and avoid disruptions in Nortel's supply chain; maintain current relationships with reseller partners, joint venture partners and strategic alliance partners; obtain court orders or approvals with respect to motions filed from time to time; resolve claims made against Nortel in connection with the Creditor Protection Proceedings for amounts not exceeding Nortel's recorded liabilities subject to compromise; prevent third parties from obtaining court orders or approvals that are contrary to Nortel's interests; reject, repudiate or terminate contracts; and (b) risks and uncertainties associated with: limitations on actions against any Debtor during the Creditor Protection Proceedings; the values, if any, that will be prescribed pursuant to any court approved plan to outstanding Nortel securities and, in particular, that Nortel does not expect that any value will be prescribed to the NNC common shares or the NNL preferred shares in any such plan; the delisting of NNC common shares from the NYSE; and the delisting of NNC common shares and NNL preferred shares from the TSX; and (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's business including: the sustained economic downturn and volatile market conditions and resulting negative impact on Nortel's business, results of operations and financial position and its ability to accurately forecast its results and cash position; cautious capital spending by customers as a result of factors including current economic uncertainties; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; any requirement to make larger contributions to defined benefit plans in the future; a high level of debt, arduous or restrictive terms and conditions related to accessing certain sources of funding; the sufficiency of workforce and cost reduction initiatives; any negative developments associated with Nortel's suppliers and contract manufacturers including Nortel's reliance on certain suppliers for key optical networking solutions components and on one supplier for most of its manufacturing and design functions; potential penalties, damages or cancelled customer contracts from failure to meet contractual obligations including delivery and installation deadlines and any defects or errors in Nortel's current or planned products;
significant competition, competitive pricing practices, industry consolidation, rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and short product life cycles, and other trends and industry characteristics affecting the telecommunications industry; any material, adverse affects on Nortel's performance if its expectations regarding market demand for particular products prove to be wrong; potential higher operational and financial risks associated with Nortel's international operations; a failure to protect Nortel's intellectual property rights; any adverse legal judgments, fines, penalties or settlements related to any significant pending or future litigation actions; failure to maintain integrity of Nortel's information systems; changes in regulation of the Internet or other regulatory changes; and Nortel's potential inability to maintain an effective risk management strategy.

For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For the Companies listed below, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales authorises A R Bloom, S Harris and C Hill to act as Insolvency Practitioners under section 390(2)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants authorises A M Hudson to act as an Insolvency Practitioner under section 390(2)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986.

The affairs, business and property of the Companies are being managed by the Joint Administrators, A R Bloom, S Harris, AM Hudson and C Hill who act as agents of the Companies only and without personal liability.

The affairs, business and property of Nortel Networks (Ireland) Limited are being managed by the Joint Administrators, A R Bloom and D Hughes, who act as agents of Nortel Networks (Ireland) Limited only and without personal liability.

The Companies are Nortel Networks UK Limited; Nortel Networks SA; Nortel GmbH; Nortel Networks France SAS; Nortel Networks NV; Nortel Networks SpA; Nortel Networks BV; Nortel Networks Polska SP Zoo; Nortel Networks Hispania SA; Nortel Networks (Austria) GmbH; Nortel Networks sro; Nortel Networks Engineering Service Kft; Nortel Networks Portugal SA; Nortel Networks Slovensko sro; Nortel Networks Oy; Nortel Networks Romania SRL; Nortel Networks AB; Nortel Networks International Finance & Holding BV


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