April 2, 2010

Ericsson Closes Purchase of North American GSM Business from Nortel Networks

On March 31, Paul, Weiss client Ericsson closed its purchase of the North American GSM business from Nortel Networks, strengthening its position as a leading provider of telecommunications technology and services in the United States and Canada. The acquisition complements Ericsson's earlier acquisition of the CDMA and LTE businesses from Nortel, on which Ericsson was also represented by Paul, Weiss. Ericsson's bid for Nortel's GSM assets was made together with Kapsch CarrierCom AG of Austria, with Kapsch acquiring certain GSM assets outside North America in a simultaneous transaction. The Paul, Weiss team representing Ericsson included corporate partner Marilyn Sobel, counsel Ji Lu and Didier Malaquin and associates Sebastian Chan, Andrew Hennigar and Andrea Quek; bankruptcy partner Steve Shimshak and counsel Diane Meyers; intellectual property partner Chuck Googe and associates Mitch Carbullido and Mena Kaplan; employee benefits partner Larry Witdorchic and associates Reuven Falik and Tzvi Mackson; international trade counsel Richard Elliot; tax partner Peter Rothenberg and associate Joy Zhang; antitrust partner Joe Simons; environmental counsel Bill O'Brien; real estate partner Harris Freidus and associate Robert Fishman; Hong Kong-based partner Jeanette Chan and associate Stella Jiang; Beijing-based associate Sue Xu Yang; China law consultant Qi Xu; London-based partner David Lakhdhir and associate James McClary; and paralegal Thomas Somerville.