NSN takes another pass at Nortel's MEN

Ciena may have beat out Nokia Siemens Networks with a $769 million bid ($530 in cash and $239 million in convertible notes) for Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks and optical assets, but NSN isn't giving up that easily. And to prove its dedication, NSN says it will now offer $810 million in cash for the assets.

It was barely a week ago when Ciena trumped the joint NSN/One Equity Partners bid in a three-day auction, which the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware will either approve or deny today.

NSN, which joins major Nortel creditor MatlinPatterson in objecting to Ciena's bid, argues that parts of Ciena's method of funding the debt portion of the MEN purchase--$239 in convertible notes--"carry significant risk and should not be valued the same as cash."

Already, MatlinPatterson filed an objection arguing that NSN's bid surpassed the amount of cash in Ciena's offer by $200 million.

For more:
- Reuters has this article

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