Nortel Networks Inc. won approval Wednesday from judges in Delaware and Ontario for the $900 million sale of a Nortel unit that makes communications systems for businesses.

In a joint hearing involving a video link amidst courtrooms in Wilmington and Toronto, where Nortel Networks Corp. is based, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross and Canadian Justice Geoffrey Morawetz approved the sale of Nortel Enterprise Solutions to New Jersey-based Avaya Inc. for $900 million in cash and a $15 million contribution to a Nortel employee retention program.

The hearing followed an auction that concluded early Monday and resulted in privately held Avaya agreeing to pay nearly double the amount of its “stalking horse” bid of $475 million for the Nortel unit, which supplies phone systems and other communications equipment to businesses and large organizations, including government agencies.

Derrick Tay, an attorney representing Nortel in Canada, said the auction bidding, which stretched by the weekend, amounted to an increase in the sale price of about $8 million an hour, which he joked would just about cover the fees of the professionals involved.

“I think that is a good news story, not just for creditors,” Tay said, adding that the deal will resolve uncertainty among Nortel employees, customers and potential customers.

The court actions cover the sale of Nortel’s Enterprise Solutions business in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America and Asia. Nortel and Avaya have a separate agreement covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Avaya said the company still needs court approval in France and Israel, among other things.

Meanwhile, Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday the government won’t block the $1.1 billion sale of Nortel Networks’ wireless division to Sweden’s Ericsson.

Nortel, a former telecommunications equipment giant that at one point accounted for one-third of the market value on the entire Toronto Stock Exchange, filed for bankruptcy…

[Source] dhiram