Replies to post #3032 on Nortel Networks (fka NRTLQ)

[Gytheon]

Re Hedge fund-courtesy of:
By: Dart45
04 Mar 2005, 01:02 PM EST
Msg. 83455 of 83456
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Nortel Names Daichendt as Chief Operating Officer

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Nortel Networks Corp., the largest North American phone-equipment maker, named former Cisco Systems Inc. executive Gary Daichendt as chief operating officer.

Daichendt, one of Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers's top deputies until 2000, will join March 14, Brampton, Ontario-based Nortel said in a statement. Nortel CEO William Owens will add the title of vice chairman.

Hiring an executive such as Daichendt, who ran operations at Cisco as head of worldwide sales and manufacturing, may help Nortel's efforts to revive its business. Nortel has spent almost a year unraveling $3.23 billion in misreported sales and costs dating back to 1999. Owens, 64, was appointed CEO in April last year after the fired Frank Dunn. He spent the past 11 months overseeing the restatements and slicing jobs.

Daichendt "has got quite a strong record," said Paul Sagawa, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, who rates Nortel stock "underperform" and doesn't personally own the shares. Still, ``adding a little bit of strength doesn't change the tremendous battle they have to fight."

Shares of Nortel, down 63 percent in the past year, rose 4 cents to $3 at 10:23 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Daichendt, 53, climbed to the No. 2 position at Cisco, the world's largest maker of equipment to link computers. He had worked for Chambers since being hired at Wang Laboratories Inc. in the 1980s. After leaving Cisco he formed a hedge fund in 2001 that focused on investing in technology companies.

Daichendt, who will carry the title of president, was traveling and not available for an interview today, Nortel spokeswoman Marion MacKenzie said.

Faulty Accounting

Nortel's faulty accounting led to the ouster of 10 executives and is the subject of criminal and regulatory probes in the U.S. and Canada. The company has delayed restatements after uncovering the faulty reporting went deeper and further than previously thought. Nortel plans to file restated results for 2004 by the end of April.

Owens, a retired admiral and former vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had been a Nortel director.