Avaya is the winner in Nortel auction

Avaya moments ago announced it was selected to acquire Nortel Enterprise Solutions for US$900 million in proceeds to Nortel and an additional pool of $15 million reserved for an employee retention program.

Today’s announcement follows the completion of an auction, and the final transaction is subject to court and customary regulatory approvals in Canada and the United States and possibly in France and Israel.

Also part of this deal is sale of such assets as Nortel Government Solutions and DiamondWare to Avaya.

Canadian and U.S. court approvals are being sought at a joint hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

Nortel Enterprise Solutions president Joel Hackney said: “This is fantastic news for our customers, as this will empower us to continue to deliver industry-leading solutions and services focused on unlocking the enterprise business potential enabled by unified communications. It provides the capability to chart our future with laser-focus, enabling customers to compete in new ways with greater scale and resources. We look forward to working closely with our customers, partners and stakeholders during this pre-close phase to ensure that we continue to innovate to meet customers’ needs with high-performance, efficient and secure communications solutions.”

Kevin Kennedy, the president and CEO of Avaya, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., said: “Our successful bid brings us closer to adding Nortel and its complementary channel, portfolio, research and development, and global presence to Avaya.

“We believe the acquisition brings inherent value to both organizations’ customers, employees and partners, and we look forward to its successful conclusion,” Kennedy said.

Hackney went on to say that as Nortel works through integration planning, it is business as usual, and the Ottawa-based company will continue to focus on supporting the installed base through to when the deal closes and beyond.

“We will deliver on our stated customer commitments and maintain high levels of service and support. We will ensure our customers can fully leverage their existing Nortel investment as they benefit from the complementary capabilities of the Nortel and the Avaya portfolio of products and services,” Hackney said.

The independent body; Nortel Distributor Alliance Council chimed in on this auction from a channel partner perspective.

Rick Dawybida, president of DAC Americas, which represents 700 members that include 100 Nortel channel partners, said that Nortel and Avaya channel partners will have opportunities to grow their business as the move to unified communications accelerates and the need for advanced services to design, deploy and manage such solutions expand.

“The independent members of the Nortel Distributor Alliance Council are excited about the future potential that today’s announcement brings to the tens of thousands of enterprise customers we support. We look forward to a commitment focused on ensuring customers can fully leverage their prior investments while also getting expanded choices. The combined portfolio capability of Avaya and Nortel will offer the marketplace industry-leading solutions as companies move aggressively to unified communications,” Dawybida said.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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