Nortel Rises Again on Virtual Store News

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

Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens(NOK Quote) and Cisco Systems have all been cited as possible purchasers of Nortel's Ethernet networks division, which could be priced anywhere from $500 million to $1 billion, according to analysts and media reports.

Last month Toronto's Globe & Mail reported that Nortel has received three separate offers that are close to $1 billion, although the company declined to comment on the report.

Despite its recent rally, Nortel's stock is still trading well below its 52-week high of $13.71 and perilously close to its 21-cent low. Nortel even received a stern ultimatum last month: Boost share price or get booted from the NYSE.