Bankrupt Nortel Networks has found a buyer for another business.
The Canadian telecommunications equipment maker agreed to its high-speed data networks division to Ciena Corp. for about $521 million. Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January and is selling its pieces to repay creditors.
If the deal wins court approval and isn't trumped by higher bids, Maryland-based Ciena plans to keep about 85 percent of the Nortel subsidiary's employees, or about 2,000 people worldwide. Ciena makes fiber-optic gear for big phone companies.
Less than 100 of the division's employees are at Nortel's campus in Research Triangle Park, where about 1,600 people still work, said spokesman Jay Barta.
Many of Nortel's local employees work for its Enterprise Solutions division, which Avaya agreed to buy last month for $915 million. In North America, Avaya expects to keep about 60 percent of that division's workers.
At its peak, Nortel employed more than 8,500 in the Triangle. The company has slashed costs and jobs to offset slumping sales.
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