Nortel Unit Interest: Adding Insult To Injury (NTRLQ, NOK, SI)

Nortel Networks Corp. (OTC: NRTLQ) may be adding some insult to serious injury.  Shares surged today, by a huge percentage basis on merely a few cents move, after the WSJ reported yesterday that a Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) joint venture may be interested in acquiring some of Nortel’s assets.  Recent reports show that the company’s carrier network and its wireless research units are being auctioned.  That is also after rumors of its business communications units getting interest from potential buyers in recent weeks.

What is the (second) biggest shame of all is that it took a bankruptcy to generate the interest.  Nortel has been a challenged company for longer than memory serves.  It completely destroyed its shareholders with restructuring after restructuring.

Somehow, some way, the impossible is still reality.  Mike Zafirovski, one of our 10 CEO’s to go for 2009, is still listed as President & CEO of the company.  The fact that he has not been hurled out of the front door by security is a shame.  Right now there is a French Revolution taking place over executive compensation, but somehow, some way there is not a revolt over utter and complete incompetence.

This company is bound to have nothing left to restructure into when these bids come in.  It probably won’t even matter what the values of the bids come in at for each of these units.  In bankruptcy, companies never seem to get full price nor do they really get anything close to what shareholders might feel is a fair value.

After this is said and done, shareholders are likely to get wiped out entirely and can finally use this as a tax write-off.  At that point, the remaining units that have no real value can be restructured into a debt-free company that no one wants.  Then, and only then, it can take the proposed name of “No-Tel” as we have proposed.

While this may sound a lot like a disgruntled shareholder complaint, this is just from outside observation and analysis after witnessing a management team take a huge airplane and fly  it right into the ground.  There was value here at one point.  It was just destroyed and restructured over and over until nothing made sense.  Nortel will end up being one the university capstone case studies where sense was turned into just a few cents.

Jon C. Ogg