Bankrupt Nortel Networks could raise as much as $1.1 billion selling its technology patents to rivals such as Research in Motion, Cisco Systems and others.
The Canadian telecom-equipment maker has started taking bids for about 4,500 patents granted and 1,000 that are pending. MDB Capital Group analyst Peter Conley estimates the value at $750 million to $1.1 billion, Bloomberg News reported.
Nortel was once one of the largest private employers in the Triangle, and many of its patents involve at least some work done at its Research Triangle Park campus. Many projects involved workers at multiple Nortel locations worldwide.
“Patent estates of this size don’t come along that often,” Conley told Bloomberg. “This is the equivalent of acquiring the IP of a large technology company. If you could buy that for a billion dollars, it would be a bargain.”
Officials with RIM, which is opening a Triangle research office, and Cisco, which has a massive campus in RTP, declined to comment.
Nortel is exploring how to "maximize the value" of the patents and is talking to a "wide range" of companies to determine their interest, spokeswoman Jamie Moody told Bloomberg.
Some patents cover technology for the next generation of wireless networks and could be even more valuable, analysts said.
Nortel struggled with mounting debt and sagging sales, and filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2009.
Since then, it has been selling off parts of its business, including its Triangle operations, to companies such as Ciena, Avaya and Genband. Its patents are among the last assets left and creditors are eager to get more money from the company.
Read the full Bloomberg story here.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or 
