Nortel Networks Corp. announced that it⎯along with its principal operating subsidiary Nortel Networks Limited (NNL), and certain of its other subsidiaries⎯has auctioned substantially all of the assets of Nortel’s optical networking and carrier ethernet businesses to Ciena Corp. With a purchase price of US$530 million in cash plus a US$239 million principal amount of convertible notes due June 2017, the sale is subject to court approvals in the U.S. and Canada, which Nortel will seek at a joint hearing on December 2, 2009.

The companies will work together to close the sale in the first quarter
of 2010, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals.

If approved by the courts, Ciena’s purchase will include nearly all
product platforms, patents and intellectual property that are
predominantly used in the businesses, and provides for the transition
of substantially all of Nortel’s optical networking and carrier ethernet customer contracts to Ciena.

A minimum of 2,000 Nortel employees will receive offers of employment
from Ciena, including those assigned to the optical networking and
carrier ethernet businesses in certain EMEA jurisdictions who will
transfer automatically to Ciena by operation of law.

As previously announced, Nortel does not expect that the company’s
common shareholders or NNL preferred shareholders will receive any
value from the creditor protection proceedings and expects that it will result in the cancellation of these equity interests.