Judge rejects Verizon's challenge to Avaya-Nortel ES, OKs deal

The U.S. Bankruptcy judge overseeing Verizon's challenge to Avaya's $915 million winning bid for Nortel's Enterprise Solutions division threw out the challenge, and approved the sale of the ES division. According to a Reuters report [1], Judge Kevin Gross found Verizon's claims that the deal would cause national security and military issues to be mainly economically motivated, therefore not warranting interference with Avaya's purchase of the unit. A separate court in Canada approved the deal there, and the judge in the Canadian proceedings said he expects the deal to close in December, according to Bloomberg [2]. 

Verizon, which argued that Avaya would discontinue its contracts after buying the unit, most likely will have to renegotiate the services contracts with Avaya, if Avaya's winning bid for the unit is accepted and meets regulatory approval. 

For more:
- see the Reuters report here [1] 

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Avaya buys Nortel ES for $915M [3]
The Great White Mess: Nortel staggers to the finish line [4]
Verizon seeks to block Avaya's Nortel bid [5]