Canada won’t block Nortel sale of wireless unit to Ericsson
By APWednesday, September 16, 2009
Canada won’t block Nortel sale to Ericsson
TORONTO — Canada’s industry minister says the government won’t block the $1.1 billion sale of Nortel Networks’ wireless division to Sweden’s Ericsson.
Industry Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday there is no basis for a federal review of the deal on national security grounds. As well, the deal falls under the value threshold of Investment Canada review guidelines.
In addition, Ericsson is planning to offer jobs to 800 Nortel workers in Canada.
Ericsson won an auction to buy the wireless division, which researches and develops products for advanced wireless telecom devices. The Swedish company hopes to close the deal next month.
Canada-based BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. urged the government to prevent the sale so it could buy the asset.
