Siemens Venture Wants In On Nortel Enterprise Action

The Gores Group-Siemens AG, a joint venture between the private equity firm and German tech giant called the Enterprise Networks Holdings, said Wednesday it's looking to submit a bid to acquire struggling Nortel's enterprise unit, Reuters reported.

A bid by Enterprise Networks Holdings (ENH), which is also the parent of Enterasys Networks, would pit it against Avaya Inc. in the fight to acquire Nortel's enterprise unit, which comprises its data, voice and government solutions offerings. Last week, Avaya put in a "stalking horse" bid of $475 million. The stalking horse bid essentially opens the bidding for other interested parties and the bankruptcy court will auction off Nortel's assets to the highest bidder next month.

Nortel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January after years of declining revenue and a bleak economic slowdown. Since filing for bankruptcy, Nortel has been looking to sell off its key divisions in a move the former telecom giant hopes will generate more value for stakeholders than restructuring.

Last week, Swedish telecom company Ericsson won the bidding war for Nortel's carrier wireless CDMA and LTE access business to the tune of $1.13 billion, beating out Nokia-Siemens, which put in a bid of $650 million.

ENH has also reportedly filed a limited objection to the proposed bidding procedures for the Nortel enterprise division in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Reuters reported. The objection says the procedures have several provisions that not only give Avaya an unfair advantage, but also reduce the likelihood that Nortel's stakeholders will receive maximum value for their assets.

Reuters noted that ENH has asked the court to require that Nortel give each qualified bidder all information about the assets being sold, while also asking Nortel to provide qualified bidders all documents related to Avaya's and other competing proposals for the assets.