Feb. 9
Nortel Networks Corp. says it has reached a $57-million deal with its pensioners and employees on long-term disability, just a few months after declaring bankruptcy and jettisoning various business units to Ericsson, Ciena, Avaya and Genband.
Under the deal, which requires court approval, Nortel will continue to administer its negotiated pension plan and its managerial and non-negotiated pension plan until the end of September. Nortel will pay income benefits to LTD beneficiaries and to those receiving survivor income benefits and survivor transition benefits through December 31.
Medical and dental benefits to Nortel pensioners and survivors and Nortel LTD beneficiaries will also be paid until the end of the year.
March 16
IT services provider The Utility Company receives $1 million in funding from BDC Capital Inc. to expand its franchise program in the mid-market space and to build relationships with industry associations.
The Ottawa-based firm, which bills itself as a “virtual IT department” for small and medium-sized businesses, said the growth capital will be used for the sales and marketing of the soon-to-be-launched aspects of its Connected Office service portfolio, including the CO Enterprise Program that provides additional external support for companies that already have an internal IT department.
April 21
Another piece of the former Nortel Networks empire is sold, with the Canadian company's interest in a Korean operation going to LM Ericsson for US$242 million. Nortel announces the sale of its 50-per-cent-plus-one share interest in LG-Nortel Co. Ltd., the company's joint Korean venture with LG Electronics Inc.
April 27
Mitel Networks Corp. announces that it raised about US$147.37 million through its initial public offering. The Ottawa-based telecom infrastructure company, which launched its IPO April 22, says it closed the offering of 10,526,316 common shares at $14 each, down from the originally stated share price target of between $18-20. Mitel’s share price will continue to dwindle in 2009, sitting at around $5.50 at press time, and OBJ CEO of the Year Don Smith will eventually announce his upcoming retirement from the company later in the year.
May 11
Memory chip maker Sidense Corp. lands Ottawa’s second venture capital deal of the year, a $5-million Series-B round that includes participation from both Canadian and international investors.
Sidense – which develops logic non-volatile memory intellectual property cores – says it received the growth capital from a group of investors led by VentureLink Funds of Canada, with participation from its existing funding partners, Tech Capital partners and Trellis Capital of Canada and Israel’s Vertex Venture Capital.
The company says it will use the money to expand the development of its embedded, one-time programmable memory products and to ramp up sales and marketing efforts.
May 27
Smart thermostat maker Energate Inc. secures $7.2 million in venture capital funding, marking the second VC round raised by a local company in just over two weeks.
Energate says the series-B funding round would be used to drive sales growth and customer deployment initiatives, while supporting the company’s ongoing product development and strategic partnerships.
The investment was co-led by the clean-tech focused, Montreal-based Cycle Capital Fund I LP, with new and existing investors and the provincial government’s Emerging Technology Fund participating in the VC round.
May 28
Genband has completed its acquisition of the Nortel’s carrier voice-over-Internet protocol and application solutions business, one of the last major pieces of the fallen telecom giant to be sold.a
Plano, Texas-based Genband, which announced the US$182-million deal in February, said Friday that it’s now wrapped up planning for the integration process and has finalized its executive management team, reporting structure and product roadmaps.
As well, nearly 100 per cent of the 400 employment offers extended to Nortel’s former employees in the division have been accepted, the company said. There will be approximately 500 people in total working for Genband in Canada.
July 16
Advanced video company IPeak Networks finishes its Series B round of financing, attracting investors such as Miralta Capital L.P. and Arjesan II Limited Partnership, the firm announced on Thursday. Like the company's Series A round of funding last July, this latest announcement does not disclose how much money the company raised from investors.
Oct. 14
DragonWave Inc. acquires Axerra Networks for $9.5 million , with the provision that the transaction value could rise to as high as $15.5 million based on sales performance during the 16-month transition period.
The deal will bring more customers to the tech firm while broadening its mobile network capabilities to existing 2G and 3G networks and next-generation 4G, according to DragonWave
In a statement, DragonWave – which has been criticized in recent months for drawing most of its revenue from a single customer – said Axerra's portfolio of products would "strengthen and complement" that of the packet microwave radio supplier .
Nov. 5
Work Horse Capital & Strategic Acquisitions Ltd. closes a $5.8-million qualifying transaction to acquire Palo Alto, Calif.-based Personal Web Systems Inc. The deal is closed concurrently with a private placement for $3.135 million, the capital-pool company says in a release.
Nov. 10
Riding the strength of an 80 per cent growth in sales this year, BTI Systems announced late Tuesday an $11 million infusion of funding from existing investors. Representatives from the packet optical networking technology maker said in anOBJ interview that they expect several new announcements about customer wins in the next few months.
Nov. 22
Technology licensing company WiLAN Inc. says it has initiated a lawsuit against Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., and Charter Communications, claiming that each violates one of its patents in its cable systems and cable modem products.
WiLAN claims the three telecommunications giants violate the patents in the sale, selling, operating, advertising and marketing of the products.
The company, which derives its revenues by licensing intellectual property and defending it in court, said the lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Eastern Texas.
Dec. 1
Nortel Networks Corp. sells its Chinese telecom joint venture Guangdong Nortel to Ericsson (China) Communications Company Ltd. for about US$50 million in cash. The former Canadian high-tech giant, which has largely been dismantled and sold off in pieces under court supervision, owns 62 per cent of Guangdong Nortel. The division was established in 1995.
Dec. 3
Sitebrand Inc. declares it is entering creditor protection, and that chief executive Chris Corman will leave the firm. In its most recent release of financial results for the second quarter, it posts a net loss of $29,161 in the three months ending May 31, a slight improvement from a $112,164 loss in Q2 2009.
Dec. 6
Protus IP Solutions Inc. is acquired by U.S.-based j2 Global Communications for US$213 million. The company says it will lay off an undisclosed number of its 260 workers as a result of the transaction, which will keep the company in Ottawa, and that Steve Adams will lead the Ottawa office, becoming Protus' general manager and vice-president and directly reporting to j2 CEO Hemi Zucker.
Dec. 6
Enablence Technologies Inc. raises $21.2 million in a public offering. The fibre-to-the-home provider sells 36.6 million common shares, with chief executive Tim Thorsteinson purchasing 258,620 of those for gross proceeds of $150,000. Syndicate members include Paradigm Capital, TD Securities Inc., Fraser Mackenzie Ltd. and Raymond James Ltd.
