Retirees welcome close of Nortel bankruptcy trial

A group representing Nortel Networks retirees and pensions is glad that the company’s bankruptcy trial is nearly finished.

Closing arguments are scheduled to be held on Monday and Tuesday in Toronto.

The trial will decide how the $7.3 billion in proceeds of sales of Nortel’s business lines and its patents will be split between the various Nortel estates and ultimately be paid to creditors.

The Nortel Retirees and former employees Protection Canada (NRPC) is disappointed that distressed debt investors, who paid pennies on the dollar to acquire Nortel bonds after the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, are “still pursuing outrageous interest claims that will allow them to reap windfall profits at the expense of the pensioners, their survivors and the disabled.”

“The Canadian employees of Nortel were the primary creators of the bulk of Nortel’s patents and assets of the once-global company,” says a statement from NRPC. “They are owed better treatment than what is promoted by the bondholders, and they are resolute to wait as long as it takes for an equitable share of Nortel’s dwindling assets.”

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