Avaya Buyout Not Yet a Done Deal; Nortel Likely Out of the Hunt

The buyout of Avaya Inc. (AV) by private equity firms, Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group, may not be a done deal yet, according to a report posted on the New York Times's DealBook website.

As part of the terms and conditions of the merger agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Avaya has been granted a 50-day go-shop provision which allows them to potentially solicit better offers for the company.

While the DealBook report noted that go-shop provisions rarely result in rival bids, it also quoted Prudential analyst Inder Singh saying he thinks other companies continue to be interested in Avaya, including Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), who might be willing to offer up a trumping bid to the US$17.50 per share offer from Silver Lake/Texas Pacific.

As for Nortel Networks (NT), who were rumored to be in the hunt for Avaya, Mr. Singh suggested in the report that it may have been priced out of the auction already.