Ericsson’s planned US$1.13 billion acquisition of Nortel Networks’ CDMA and LTE access assets – announced last weekend – has moved a step closer to completion following approval yesterday by US and Canadian bankruptcy courts. AP News notes that US bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross said he was satisfied that the assets were being sold at a fair price and that both Nortel and its creditors will benefit. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto also approved the deal. Ericsson has stated it expects the deal to take 30 to 45 days to complete and is already preparing for the integration of the business. 

The court decision, unless challenged by the Canadian government, clears the way for the planned sale and breakup of Nortel, once Canada’s largest and best-known technology company. It also sets the stage for the auction of Nortel’s enterprise or corporate networking business to begin on 5 August following a stalking horse bid of US$475 million submitted by Avaya last week. According to a Reuters report yesterday, Ontario finance minister Dwight Duncan is pressing the Canadian government to block Ericsson’s acquisition, stating that Nortel’s mobile assets should benefit a Canadian company.