Canadian legislators are to hold an emergency day-long meeting tomorrow to examine the proposed sale of Nortel’s mobile assets to Sweden’s Ericsson, a deal that some opposition politicians fear could be bad for Canadian business, reports Reuters. The investigation by the Canadian Parliament’s Industry Committee does not have the power to overturn the sale but will put more pressure on the government to review it, the report said. Ericsson’s planned US$1.13 billion acquisition of Nortel’s CDMA and LTE access assets was last week approved by the bankruptcy courts overseeing the auction process, but a 21-day appeal period is still active.
A statement from the Industry Committee yesterday said witnesses from Nortel, Ericsson and Research In Motion (RIM), as well as Canada’s federal Industry Department, were expected to appear at the hearing. RIM – a Canadian company – has been one of the most prominent industry players to argue that Nortel’s technology should be kept in Canada. “We want to get some answers on a number of questions. For example, how did the bidding process unfold? Where has the government been on all this?” said Marc Garneau, industry spokesman for the main opposition Liberal Party. “We want to make sure that due diligence is followed here in terms of protecting the interests of Canadians in terms of the intellectual property that is at play here.” However, a spokesman for Canada’s Industry Minister, Tony Clement, said he will not decide whether to review the sale until after the 21-day appeal period has expired.
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