Canada reviewing sale of Nortel patents
July 7th, 2011 - 1:42 pm ICT by IANSToronto, July 7 (IANS) Canada is reviewing the sale of Nortel patents to a foreign consortium led by Apple so that the deal is not violative of national interest.
Apple, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM), Microsoft, Ericsson, Sony and EMC bought 6,000 patents of the defunct Nortel for a whopping $4.5 billion July 1.
The Investment Canada Act mandates review of any foreign takeover of Canadian assets above $350 million to safeguard national interest.
Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis has reportedly sought a review of the sale to see if it is violative of the Investment Canada Act.
This is the third attempted foreign takeover of Canadian companies or assets which faces review by the government.
Last November, the Canadian government blocked the sale of the world’s biggest fertilizer company - Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) - to BHP Billiton, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, for $39 billion.
The government was also reluctant to let the London Stock Exchange take over the Toronto Stock Exchange. Before the merger deal collapsed last week, the government had announced to review it in the national interest.
The Nortel portfolio of 6,000 patents and patent applications relating to cutting-edge, next-generation wireless technology was its last remaining asset to go on the auction block.
It is the biggest sale of patents in history.
Interestingly, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM), which is now part of the consortium that has bought the patents, last year opposed the sale of Nortel’s wireless assets to Ericsson on nationalist grounds.
- Apple-led group buys Nortel patents for $4.5 bn - Jul 02, 2011
- BlackBerry to bid for Nortel patents to stop Google - Apr 19, 2011
- Google suffers major blow in Nortel patent loss - Jul 04, 2011
- Google gets approval for $900-million bid for Nortel patents - May 03, 2011
- Apple, Intel join Google in bidding for Nortel patents - Jun 28, 2011
- Google offers to buy Nortel patents for $900 million - Apr 05, 2011
- Nortel patent sales okayed by US, Canadian courts - Jul 12, 2011
- World's fertilizer giant faces takeover bid, Canada worried - Nov 01, 2010
- Canada okay for Nortel sale likley - Aug 20, 2009
- BlackBerry maker wants Nortel sale cancelled - Aug 08, 2009
- Ericsson CEO clueless about fate of Nortel deal - Aug 22, 2009
- For BlackBerry, it is globalisation abroad and protectionism at home - Aug 06, 2009
- BlackBerry likely to unveil new smart phones next week - Apr 28, 2011
- Canadian media favours protectionism, wants Nortel sale cancelled - Jul 30, 2009
- Courts approve Nortel sale; Canada's opposition says stop it - Jul 29, 2009
Tags: auction block, bhp billiton, canadian assets, canadian government, fertilizer company, industry minister, investment canada act, last november, london stock exchange, merger deal, national interest, next generation wireless, nortel, paradis, patent applications, potash corporation of saskatchewan, research in motion, toronto stock exchange, wireless assets, wireless technology