MatlinPatterson, the New York-based private equity firm, offered $725m for most of Nortel Network’s core wireless operations, trumping an earlier “stalking horse” bid of $650m from Nokia Siemens Networks. If successful, the firm said it remained interested in acquiring other Nortel business units and operating them as a “New Nortel”.
In an open letter to other Nortel stakeholders, MatlinPatterson, which emerged as Nortel’s largest bondholder after the Canadian telecoms equipment maker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, said that if its bid was successful it would seek to acquire other Nortel units as they come up for sale.
