Nortel Networks Corp., North America’s biggest maker of telephone equipment, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S., a victim of the global credit crunch and declining sales.
Nortel, based in Toronto, had more than $1 billion in assets and debt, according to a Chapter 11 filing of its U.S. subsidiary today in Wilmington, Delaware. Fourteen affiliates of Nortel’s financing unit are seeking similar protection in Delaware. Five units filed for bankruptcy there under Chapter 15. Nortel said Canadian affiliates also will seek protection.
“It’s the end of a saga,” said Benoit Lalonde, vice president of fixed income at Laurentian Bank Securities, a unit of Canada’s seventh-largest bank. Laurentian doesn’t own Nortel debt. “Nortel is a corpse awaiting burial. I’m sad to see it happen but the tears were shed many months ago.”
Nortel has lost almost $7 billion since Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski took over in 2005, leaving him struggling for funds to operate the company.
#20 Good points.
BTW, apparently Canada is to blame for GM & Ford dying as they have some manufacturing there… LOL
#19 said: “…the Nortel Vista 350″
Now if that product name was not a sign of things to come,I don’t know what is.
Two years ago, my company was buying a new soft switch to run our network. We had agreed to buy one from a company who promptly went out of business before we actually got anything finalized. We were strongly considering Nortel as our choice, but something didn’t seem right, so we went with a slightly more expensive bid. Boy am I glad it worked out that way. Nothing like buying something that’s supposed to be a 20 or 30 year investment and having the company go bankrupt after 10 months.
At least Canada’s showing the good sense to not try to bail them out. If a company fails it fails, that’s what bankruptcy laws are for. Not everything is solved by dumping tons of money on it.
They cooked the books so many times even Gordon Ramsay couldn’t save them.
#24
Don’t bet on it. Some politician pin head was on the news tonight talking about helping them out.
In the spring of 2000 when Lucent warned on earnings. I called all my friends and told them to unload NT. None of them sold the stock. They would tell me they were in for the long term. They did not want to take the Cap gains tax hit. None of these people trade stocks, they didn’t get it. Now they can do a little tax loss selling. The sad thing is I still know people who own this stock.
NT is going into chap 7 in a few months when no bank will back them. Parts will be sold and NT will trade on the OTCBB pink sheets.
Burn Baby Burn!!!