Mike Z. Wants His Dough
By Mark Evans | Published: October 8, 2009

As Nortel continues to disappear, the stream of head-shaking news continues to emerge.

The latest development is ex-CEO Mike Zafirovski filing a $12.2 million claim with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware. In the claim, Mike Z. is asking for:

- 24 months of base salary worth $2.4-million
- $3.6-million in bonuses – the equivalent of two years of SUCCESS Incentive Award Plan payments at a target of 150% of base salary
- A pro-rata bonus for Q3 2009 of $200,543.38
- $50,000 for health, life, accidental death and dismemberment insurance benefits
- A lump sum present value of not less than $355,000/year as part of a single life annuity pension benefit (value to be determined by not less than $6-million)
- An undetermined amount related to indemnification and contribution in connect with class action lawsuit

In the claim, Zafirovski said the amount due and owing have to do with the terms and conditions of an employment contract effective Nov. 15, 2005.

http://www.allaboutnortel.com/

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Ciena to Buy NT’s Optical/Ethernet Assets
By Mark Evans | Published: October 7, 2009

In a move that was prematurely announced last week, Ciena has made a “stalking horse” bid for most of Nortel’s optical and Ethernet assets. The offer is worth $521-million – $390 million in cash and 10 million common shares.

Ciena disclosed the deal last Friday in a press release on its Web site. The press release was quickly taken down, and replaced by another press release that Ciena was in deep discussions with Nortel but a deal was contingent on a competitive bidding process.

Ciena said it will keep 2,000 of Nortel’s employees. The assets to be acquired had about $1.36 billion in revenue last year, and $556 million during the first six months of 2009.

In a statement, Ciena CEO Gary Smith said:

“This is a unique and exciting opportunity for us to accelerate our existing strategy and the pace of our growth plans by two to three years. We believe this transaction will position us for faster growth by giving us greater geographic reach, broader customer relationships and a deeper portfolio of solutions. We believe we are best positioned to leverage these assets, thereby creating a significant challenger to traditional network vendors.”

http://www.allaboutnortel.com/2009/10/07...