Ciena Selected as Successful Bidder for Nortel's Optical and Carrier Ethernet Assets

Ciena® Corporation announced that it has been selected as the successful bidder in the auction of substantially all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business. Ciena has agreed to pay US $530 million in cash and issue US $239 million in aggregate principal amount of 6% Senior Convertible notes due 2017 for a total consideration of US $769 million for the assets.

“These optical and carrier Ethernet assets bring exceptional technologies, talent and scale that will accelerate Ciena’s current strategy to deliver innovative network solutions to customers worldwide,” said Gary Smith, Ciena’s CEO and president. “With this combination, we are bringing together complementary technologies in switching and transport to create an innovative powerhouse with the scale to challenge the industry status quo and offer customers a practical path for transitioning to automated, optical Ethernet-based networking. We will be intently focused on integration as we work together to deliver the benefits of this transaction to customers, employees and shareholders.”

eBay Inc. Completes Sale of Skype

eBay Inc. announced today that it has successfully completed the previously announced sale of its Skype communications unit in a deal valuing the business at $2.75 billion. The buyer, who will control an approximately 70 percent stake, is an investor group led by Silver Lake and includes Joltid Limited and certain affiliated parties, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz.

eBay received approximately $1.9 billion in cash and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million. The company retained an approximately 30 percent equity investment in Skype. The company also purchased senior debt securities with a face value of $50 million as part of a Skype debt financing. The eBay Investor Relations portal has complete transaction details

IPWireless Secures $15.5 Million series A Funding

IPWireless announced that it has secured $15.5 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital of Boston, Massachusetts, led the transaction. The company plans to use the capital to accelerate sales of its unique 3GPP based mobile broadband and broadcast solutions into both the government and commercial markets.

“Securing over $15 million in financing during these turbulent financial times speaks to our solid business model, our proven team, and the tremendous growth opportunities that our unique platform and capabilities continue to create,” said Dr. Bill Jones, CEO of IPWireless. “3GPP standards are unequivocally the leading global solution for wireless carriers. However, while the large wireless vendors continue to focus on mainstream spectrum bands and traditional markets for their 3GPP solutions, IPWireless is expanding the benefits of this leading standard into untapped spectrum bands and opening the door to a new generation of mobile applications, devices, and ecosystems looking to capitalize on the explosive wireless market.”

Santo Politi, General Partner at Spark Capital commented, “I’ve been following IPWireless for several years and have always been impressed with their superior technology. They have a unique ability to deliver innovative mobile solutions that open new markets for tier one carriers and change the way government entities, like New York City, improve public safety and operate more efficiently using wireless broadband. IPWireless is a company that has already delivered on their promise and, going forward, they have the potential to break a number of exciting new markets wide open.” Visit the IPWireless portal for complete fundiing details

Applied Materials to Acquire Semitool for $11 per Share

Applied Materials and Semitool announced a definitive agreement for Applied to acquire the outstanding shares of Semitool for $11 per share in an all-cash tender offer. The acquisition makes Applied the equipment leader in two fast-growing segments: advanced packaging and the memory industry’s conversion to copper. The combination enables Applied to serve its customers with a broader range of products and expands the company’s reach to a new set of customers in the semiconductor packaging industry.

“The semiconductor industry recovery is being fueled by global demand for mobile devices such as smart phones, notebook PCs and portable media players for music, gaming and books,” said Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO of Applied Materials. “With this acquisition, Applied will help the world’s leading chip makers create ever-smaller and more powerful devices.”

“Applied Materials and Semitool have a strong track record of collaborating to develop equipment solutions for leading chip makers,” said Randhir Thakur, senior vice president and general manager of Applied’s Silicon Systems Group. “Together with Semitool’s people and products, we can help the industry move to smaller form factors and faster, lower power chips.”
“As part of Applied Materials, we can accelerate the global adoption of the technologies Semitool has developed,” said Ray Thompson, chairman of Semitool. “With this agreement, we are providing our employees with a strong future and our stockholders with exceptional value.” The AMAT press room provides complete acquisition details

Is the acquisition of Palm imminent? Who is the suitor(s)?

Despite the success of the Palm Pre and Pixi earlier this year, Palm continues to bleed red financial ink. Moreover, Palm/(Sprint) remains a distant third behind Apple/(AT&T) and RIM/(Verizon) in the massive North American smart phone market. Palm has rumored to be a takeover target for months if not years.

So who is (are) the most likely suitors? Late this week unofficial reports surfaced that Finland-based Nokia is the most likely candidate. While the Nokia E71, N97 and M900 smartphones have be initially successful in Europe, North America remains a largely untapped market for Nokia. (Although Nokia itself has had its share of financial challenges the past 1-2 years as well).

Potential other suitors include Sony, Dell and even HP. This coming week could provide the answer to this unanswered question. Regardless of who who the suitor, is Palm's distant third place position to much of a gap for any new parent company to close. Details and further thoughts to follow ...

Who do you think will be Palm's suitor? Send your thoughts to the Tech Mergers and Acquisitions Review