Ericsson to pay $1.13 billion for Nortel assets

Swedish telecomm giant Ericsson has reportedly won an auction for the bankrupt Nortel’s wireless technologies unit. Outbidding rival Nokia who recently bagged Nortel’s profitable division for $650 million, Ericsson offered $1.13 billion for the wireless division.

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) complained of being unfairly shut out of the bidding, and was prepared to offer $1.1 billion. However, the two companies are discussing possible patent sales, as RIM looks to future-proof its business. With Nortel out of the picture, RIM has replaced it as the leading Canadian technology company.

The Ericsson-acquired division is said to be Nortel’s most valuable operation. Its assets include Nortel’s business in the CDMA wireless technology used in North America and in the emerging LTE technology – which many operators plan to use – as well as some patents. Ericsson is expected to rename the operation Ericsson CDMA and will offer jobs to 2,500 of Nortel’s workers.