UPDATE 3-Nokia Siemens says could bid for other Nortel units

Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:11pm BST
 
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* Says willing to consider acquiring other Nortel assets

* Says CDMA/LTE deal could close in Q3 (Adds comments from MatlinPatterson spokesman. In U.S. dollars)

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO, July 14 (Reuters) - Nokia Siemens, which has bid for the advanced wireless technology assets of bankrupt Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks, is open to acquiring other Nortel assets as they are put on the market, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

"Right now our focus is on the CDMA and LTE (wireless networks) assets, we want to get that process through the gate. If other assets come on to the market, we will look at each one for their value and if there is something there, we will do a deal," said Sue Spradley, the head of Nokia Siemens North America.

"But, it needs to have the right value for us and make sense given our customers," she told a gathering hosted by the Economic Club of Canada.

Last month, Nokia Siemens Networks -- a joint venture of Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Siemens (SIEGn.DE) -- made a $650 million "stalking horse" bid to acquire Nortel's advanced wireless technology business. The Nokia Siemens bid sets a floor, if any competing offer tops this bid, Nokia Siemens will be given an opportunity to raise its bid.

The deal would allow Nokia Siemens to expand its presence in North America and make it a leading supplier of wireless infrastructure products in the region.

Toronto-based Nortel, once the largest North American telecommunications equipment manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy protection in January, blaming the economic crisis for derailing a turnaround effort that began in 2005.  Continued...

 

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