Apple, Microsoft Group Wins Approval to Buy Nortel Patents (major blow to Google) [View All]

Source: Bloomberg News

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., in a joint venture called Rockstar Bidco LP, won court permission to buy the patent portfolio of Nortel Networks Corp. for $4.5 billion after outbidding Google Inc. in the biggest patent auction in history.

In a joint hearing today, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Delaware, and Ontario Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Morawetz in Toronto approved the sale of more than 6,000 patents and applications related to wireless and Internet technology.

“This truly is a ‘wow’ transaction,” said David H. Botter, an attorney for the main committee of Nortel’s unsecured U.S. creditors.

After Nortel filed for bankruptcy in 2009, it began selling its businesses, raising about $3 billion before the June patent auction. The patent portfolio was the last major asset Nortel had to sell, and will boost creditor recoveries. The sale should close within 30 days, Lisa Schweitzer, a bankruptcy attorney for Nortel said in court today.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-07-11/apple-microsoft-group-wins-approval-to-buy-nortel-patents.html