Nortel eyes $800M through equity sale

Copyright 2002 Sun Media Corporation
The Ottawa Sun...06/04/2002
From LexisNexis

CP
from CED Broadband Direct, June 4, 2002

Nortel Networks plans to raise $800 million through the sale of equity, the telecom equipment maker announced yesterday after markets closed.

Nortel said it would use the proceeds from the equity offering for general corporate purposes or to invest in its subsidiary companies.

Last month, the company asked regulators to let it raise as much as $2.5 billion through debt and equity issues over the next two years.

Nortel said last week it had begun two concurrent public offerings consisting of equity units and 150 million common shares.

Canada's largest hi-tech company has been hit hard by a sharp decline in capital spending by telephone companies and Internet data carriers.

Sufficient Cash
Nortel lost $841 million in the first quarter of this year, on top of the $27.3 billion in red ink spilled last year.

However, Nortel insists it has sufficient cash and credit available to weather the telecom downturn.

Nortel's shares on the Toronto stock market closed down 2 cents at $3.23 on June 3.