Nortel Shares End Week on Higher Note

Shares of Nortel Networks(NT Quote) surged Friday, rising more than 30% as rumors about the sale of some of the company's assets continued to swirl.

The Canadian company's stock rose 10 cents, or 34.4% Friday, closing at 39 cents, somewhat reversing their recent downward trajectory.

Israeli news Web site Globes reported earlier this week that network specialist Radware(RDWR Quote) is poised to buy part of troubled telecom equipment giant for between $30 million and $50 million, although neither firm would comment on the story.

Nortel, which has been wrestling with plummeting sales of its wireless gear, announced plans to divest its metro Ethernet networks business in September.

With analysts and the media applying price tags of between $500 million and $1 billion to Nortel's metro Ethernet networks division, Tel Aviv-based Radware may now be eyeing a small part of the Nortel's intellectual property.

"For sub-$100 million, one possibility [is Nortel's] application acceleration product line," said a technology analyst, who asked not to be named.

This would certainly fit in with Radware's own product strategy. The Israeli company, which has a U.S. base in Mahwah, N.J., touts a range of devices for delivering applications such as Oracle and Citrix over internet networks.

The fact that Radware is a foreign company should not prove too much of a problem, even taking into account the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), which famously vetoed the Dubai ports deal and Huawei's attempt to grab part of 3Com.

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