Avaya Incorporated has received approval from the US and Canadian courts for its $915 million deal to buy Nortel Networks’ operations.

Avaya Incorporated has received approval from the US and Canadian courts for its $915 million deal to buy Nortel Networks’ operations. The matter was taken to the courts by Verizon Communications which claimed that the sale would threaten to disrupt anti-terrorism and law enforcement networks that run on Nortel equipment. Following the courts’ decision, Verizon, which has contracts with Nortel, has stated that it will continue to negotiate with Avaya for terms under which Avaya will support legacy Nortel equipment. Meanwhile, the deal will make Avaya the largest provider of enterprise phone equipment in the North American market, with a 27 per cent market share, ahead of Cisco Systems, which reportedly has a 21 per cent share. Nortel expects to close the deal by December 2009. It still needs approval from courts in Israel and France, as well as some regulatory clearances.