equity firm and Nortel creditor, says it bid $725 million for wireless assets.July 20, 2009 - Research In Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone, says it has effectively been blocked from making a $1.1 billion bid for Nortel's wireless business.July 20, 2009 - Nortel agrees to Avaya's $475 million bid for its enterprise unit, which makes communication gear for companies.July 15, 2009 - Workers in France threaten to blow up their factory to force management into talks over layoff terms.June 19, 2009 - Nortel says it will sell its wireless unit to Nokia Siemens Networks for $650 million. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported its value at $730 million.July 21 - MatlinPatterson, a private U.S. Auctions for other Nortel assets will follow.(Additional reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; Editing by Eric Beech and Peter Cooney) Deals. (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson has won an auction for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp, paying $1.13 billion for the crown jewels of the one-time Canadian telecom star. Deals  |  China  |  FranceThe deal virtually assures that Nortel, once North America's largest telecommunications equipment maker, will be dismantled rather than emerge from bankruptcy protection in a slimmed-down form.Here are some key dates in the company's history:July 25 - Ericsson is declared winner of an auction for Nortel's wireless assets with a $1.13 billion bid.July 24 - Auction for Nortel's wireless business begins in New York, with a winner expected to be announced at any time.July 23 - Ericsson says it submitted bid for Nortel's wireless assets but did not put a value on the offer.

Its shares on a consolidation-adjusted basis were worth more than C$1,100 each in mid-2000.The proposed sale is subject to joint of approval of U.S and Canadian courts, scheduled for July 28. But its job cuts, asset sales and reorganizations were not enough to offset a plunge in demand for its products from corporate clients and from wireless carriers that use its technology to operate their networks.Rivals like Alcatel and Lucent consolidated as Nortel sat on the sidelines, while Asian competitors captured market share with their lower-cost offerings.The company was once the poster child in Canada for high- tech success and was the most heavily weighted stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Friday's 12-hour auction, held in a New York law office, showed how desirable the assets were, Lowe said.The two other bidders in the auction were Nokia Siemens Networks, which last month put in a "stalking-horse" bid for the assets for $650 million, setting a floor price for potential buyers.Private equity firm MatlinPatterson had offered $725 million, and there had been talk that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion might want to partner with it.RIM said it was also chasing a deal for the Nortel technology, although it said Nortel had effectively blocked an approach valued at $1.1 billion.Nortel said RIM was refusing to comply with common confidentiality provisions that other bidders agreed to follow.Even before the economy hit the skids, Nortel posted billions in losses. Closing the deal was his first priority, he said.LATE ENTRYEricsson was a late entry in the three-horse race for the Nortel wireless assets, with a bid that Canadian media put at $730 million.

"Nortel will work diligently with Ericsson to close the sale later this year."Lowe, who will serve as chief operating officer of Ericsson's CDMA operations, said Ericsson planned to keep at least 2,500 jobs in the wireless operations, or some 80 percent of the current staffing levels. When fully developed, the technology is expected to provide broadband-like access for cell phone users in terms of speed and content richness, Kagan said.Ericsson's offer virtually assures Nortel will be broken up rather than emerge from bankruptcy protection as a slimmed-down single unit."I believe this is the right outcome at this point in time," Richard Lowe, president of Nortel's carrier operations, told Reuters in an interview on Saturday. "Rather than competing with Nortel, Ericsson has won."He said the deal would enable the Swedish telecom gear maker to expand its North American footprint as the industry evolves toward so-called 4G LTE technology. DealsIn separate statements, the two companies said on Saturday Ericsson had won the bidding for Nortel's key CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technologies, which Nortel put on the block after it filed for creditor protection in January.The assets include Nortel's businesses in the CDMA wireless technology used in North America and in the emerging LTE high-speed wireless technology that many of the world's biggest operators plan to use to upgrade their telecommunications networks, as well as some patents."This is both a sad story for Nortel and a happy story for Ericsson," Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom industry analyst, said in a note. TORONTO (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson has won an auction for the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp, paying $1.13 billion for the crown jewels of the one-time Canadian telecom star.

Masters champion Trevor Immelman.Casey Wittenberg also missed the cut but will drive away in a new sports car after his hole-in-one on the par-three 15th.Leif Olson also aced the 132-yard hole, bringing the total number of aces in two rounds to six, the most in any tournament since the 2004 John Deere Classic.(Editing by Clare Fallon) Sports. I played the last seven holes two over but if you told me I was going to make nine birdies and shoot seven under I would have taken it."The third round had been scheduled to get underway later on Saturday but torrential rains swept across the already water-logged layout, forcing a premature end of play for the second straight day.Officials said they would attempt to pack in 36 holes on Sunday but with more stormy weather forecast the 100th edition of the Canadian Open appeared to be heading toward a Monday finish.Chez Reavie will not be among those getting an early wake-up call on Sunday as the defending champion failed to make the three-under cut.Also getting the rest of the weekend off were fan favorite John Daly and 2008 U.S. OAKVILLE, Ontario (Reuters) - Mark Calcavecchia reeled off a PGA Tour record nine straight birdies on a wild day at the weather-hit Canadian Open but it was Jason Dufner who took the midway lead on Saturday with the round of the day. "I will win the elections to turn things on their head, especially ending assassination and the PAIGC's totalitarian tendencies," he said.. Yala too spoke about ending a culture of assassinations and, though he also said he would seek a dialogue if elected, the fiery former philosophy professor, who enjoys the backing of the Balante tribe, said his PRS party was ready for power. Preparations for the first round of elections were disrupted when a leading candidate and another senior politician were shot dead in what the authorities called a counter-coup operation but analysts say was clearly another spat of political killings."No one else will be assassinated in Guinea-Bissau if I win the presidential elections," Sanha, candidate for the PAIGC, the biggest party in parliament, told his supporters. Holding final rallies just a few hundred metres from each other on the final day of campaigning on Friday, both Sanha and Yala promised peace, stability and the end of impunity in tackling the drug dealers, who have had links with authorities.