Canada OKs Ciena bid for Nortel ethernet biz

TORONTO, CANADA: Canada's industry minister approved Ciena Corp's $769 million bid for a unit of bankrupt Nortel Networks Inc and said on Tuesday the deal was likely to be of net benefit for Canada.

"This investment will maintain jobs, R&D activity and corporate leadership in Canada, Industry Minister Tony Clement said in a late night statement that also noted Ciena's promise to invest in Canada.

Ciena won approval for the bid from courts in Canada and the United States this month, promising $530 million in cash and $239 million in convertible securities for Nortel's optical networking and carrier ethernet business.

The company has said it expects the deal to close in the first quarter. The ethernet equipment is used to support Internet access for corporations and consumers.

Nortel, once North America's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, declared bankruptcy early in the year and has been auctioning off its businesses to raise money to pay creditors.