Former Nortel executives want to borrow at least $1 billion from the Canadian government in order to buy Nortel, CBC News reported Tuesday.
“So far, the group has private investors on board, but needs the federal money to go ahead.” CBC said.
News about the group’s interest surfaced last week. Now, more details about the plan are emerging.
According to CBC, the , which filed for bankruptcy in January, and keep two thirds of it. The other third would be sold off.
One goal of the surviving venture would be to build a high-speed network across Canada, where Nortel is based.
employs some 2,000 people at a campus in the Triangle,
According to James Bagnall of the Ottawa Citizen, the buyout effort is being led by retired Nortel President Robert Ferchat. He left the company in 1991. Other executives involved are Ian Craig, a former chief marketing officer, and David Mann, a retired vice president.
David Patterson, a former Nortel director and a member of the group, told CBC that the new Nortel would be based in Ottawa.
Mann told CBC about the “ultra high-speed broadband network.”
CBC reported that some meetings between the group’s representatives and members of the Canadian government have taken place.
Nortel is in the process of trying to sell its majority ownership in a joint venture with a Korean firm. The company also has restructured itself internally with a stated intention of selling off business units.
