November 20, 2009The auction for most of the optical and Ethernet assets of Nortel's Metro Etherent Networks (MEN) division was slated to start right about now (10 AM EST). We'll keep you posted on the action as details leak, leading up to the announcement of the winner. Be patient -- depending upon how many bidders are involved and how many rounds are necessary, this could take a while.
The only known bidder is Ciena, although both Reuters and Bloomberg have named Nokia Siemens Networks, partnered with private equity firm One Equity Partners as a competitor. That said, speculation remains that others may be involved.
Nortel has cleared the decks for this event, pushing back the auction of its GSM/GSM-R assets, originally scheduled for today, to some unspecified date in the future.
UPDATE 11/23 12:53 AM EST Reuters says Ciena wins!
UPDATE 4:00 PM EST Nothin' but crickets chirping so far. Meanwhile, here are a few words about One Equity Partners, from the firm's website:
One Equity Partners acts as a lead equity investor in management-led buyouts, and growth capital financing with a particular emphasis on corporate partnerships and divestitures. OEP typically invests $50 million to $200 million per transaction but historical investments have ranged from $3 million to over $500 million.
The firm has made investments in the communications space previously, principally Genband.
