Ciena Squared Away for Nortel Optical Unit Bid

Ciena Corp. (CIEN) has secured the clearances it needs from regulators in the U.S. and Canada to bid for bankrupt Nortel Networks’ optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets.

Ciena is the approved “stalking horse” bidder in the auction set to take place later this month. It reportedly is prepared to pay up to $550 million. Ciena could face pressure from other interested companies, though. According to reports, Nokia Siemens Networks is ready to fight Ciena for the valuable property.

If Ciena wins the auction, the company still must get permissions from bankruptcy courts in the U.S. and Canada before it can close the deal.

Meanwhile, Nortel announced this week it won’t file its third-quarter earnings results until Nov. 16 at the latest. The telecom equipment maker said it’s changing the way it reports data for its subsidiaries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Nortel executives don’t expect the adjustments to impact net earnings.