Ericsson could be likely bidder for Nortel's MEN

The fight for Nortel's wireless (both CDMA and LTE) and enterprise assets may have garnered the attention of Ericsson [1] and Avaya [2] respectively, but no one has made a play for the beleaguered company's Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN). Since Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection, speculation has continued to emerge that the potential bidders [3] for the MEN division could include the likes of Ciena, Huawei and now Ericsson.

According to a Light Reading article [4], Heavy Reading analyst Sterling Perrin said he believes that while Nortel's MEN division saw 27 percent decline during the second quarter, Ericsson may be the best possible bidder, as the buy would give them an expanded foothold in the North American wireline market. Apart from its acquisition of Entrisphere, which helped paved its way to become one of AT&T's GPON suppliers, Ericsson's North American wireline presence trails competitors such as Nortel and Alcatel-Lucent.

"Ericsson still seems to be the best fit for MEN, based on Nortel's North American presence in optical and Ericsson's lack of optical networking market share. Most other potential suitors have a fair amount of overlap and so would really only buy or need bits and pieces of MEN," Perrin said.

Even though Nortel has not publicly revealed the price it wants for the division, Perrin cautioned Nortel might not get the price it wants for the division, but "at some price, MEN has to be valuable to someone."

For more:
- Light Reading offers this analysis [4]

Related articles
Zafirovski resigned from Nortel today [5]
Nortel postpones Metro Ethernet sale [6]