Nortel Offers Up Its LG-Nortel Stake
Nortel is selling its stake "to secure a sound future for the LG-Nortel business," today's press release states. (See Nortel Selling LG-Nortel Stake.)
Nortel owns one share more than 50 percent of Korea-based LG-Nortel, with LG Electronics Inc. (London: LGLD; Korea: 6657.KS) owning the rest.
The Financial Times reported a month ago that Nortel might want out of LG-Nortel. Nortel's stake could be worth $500 million, according to the report.
At the same time, Nortel has made it plain that it wants to sell off some of its businesses. Possibilities include the Carrier Networks, Enterprise Solutions, and Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) units. (See Is Nortel M&A Near?)
The joint venture is profitable, according to today's press release, although its first-quarter revenues nose-dived compared with 2008 figures. (See Nortel Stays the Course, Declares Victory.)
LG-Nortel was not included in Nortel's bankruptcy and restructuring filings in January. (See Nortel Files for Bankruptcy Protection.)
— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading
Some one help me here because of all the NT smoke and mirror shinanigans this has to be one of the biggest.
The "company" offers:
* Telephones and pbx/key systems/UC technology from mainly from LG
* Optical/VoIP/Wireless stuff from Nortel
* Novara EFA well.. kind of hanging in limbo between the two. Bet you Novera guys wish you could have a do over for August 2008.
What exactly is NT selling? Obviously LG is more than interested in their stake which is wrapped up in their gear... which isn't leaving LG anytime soon.
The rest of the "companies" portfolio is Nortel gear. Which will be sold off or killed.
If another party is going to buy NT's stake what are they getting? A cute logo?
They are not going to get a piece of what ever revenue was associated with Nortel gear.... unless they become a reseller of Nortel gear.... or LG buys the gear and gives it to the new partner to reseller.. wait this is sounding stupider than the premise of NT selling their stake of a shadow company.
So the new company won't get any of the NT gear. Is LG going to give them a piece of their action with the gear they make? Why? What would the new partner bring to the table in return?
NT may think they want to sell their stake, but there really isn't anything to sell and I suspect LG would have a major say in who they partner with next.
Can't wait to hear Peter MacKinnon and the NT marketing voodoo folks make something out of this.