Bankrupt Nortel Networks has entered into a preliminary agreement to sell its patent portfolio to Google for $900 million, the company said on Monday.
The planned sale includes around 6,000 patents and patent applications covering wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, service provision and semiconductors, Nortel said in a statement.
The so-called stalking horse bid sets a minimum price for other bidders, which can use that offer and its terms as a starting point for their own proposals.
A stalking horse bidder typically receives a break-up fee if its bid does not go through, and it can use that fee in subsequent auction rounds.
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