An Ontario judge overseeing the Canadian portion of the Nortel Networks bankruptcy has approved a settlement on one of the side issues that involves creditors of an international division of the defunct telecom equipment giant.
The agreement, which includes a number of conditional provisions, would see up to $122.66 million allocated for creditors of the former Nortel operations based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, collectively known as the EMEA unit.
Nortel Networks UK, the main entity within the EMEA group, would be allowed a claim of at least $97.66 million against the assets of Nortel Network Ltd., the Canadian arm of the multinational company. The amount would increase by a further $25 million if complicating issues in France are resolved as outlined by the agreement.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)
Nokia joins forces with uOttawa to develop new business by investing in people
When tech giant Nokia wanted to embrace new business opportunities, they needed their team of engineers – and some advice from uOttawa’s BCI program – to succeed.
Celebrating 10 years of the Ottawa REDBLACKS
Ottawa’s CFL team is celebrating its 10 year anniversary in 2024. Roger Greenberg tells us what it took to make the CFL’s capital city team a success.
Lawyers for the various parties said last week that they’d reached a settlement, but it required approval from the Ontario court.
The EMEA settlement also provides for various legal entities within the former Nortel organization to drop their claims against each other but leaves open the question of claims on behalf of Nortel’s U.K. pension funds, another of the side issues that has complicated the final windup of what was once Canada’s biggest technology company.
The settlement, reached after more than three years of negotiations and legal manoeuvres, does not resolve the larger challenge that will determine how to divide US$7.3 billion from the sale of certain parts of Nortel after it sought court protection in several countries in January 2009.
At its height from 1999 to 2000, Nortel was worth nearly $300 billion and employed more than 90,000 people globally.