"The Nortel assets being sold to Avaya exceed the threshold set by the ICA ($312 million); therefore a review is automatically required. I only approve applications where the investor demonstrates that its investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada." Nortel has been operating under bankruptcy protection since Jan. 14, and is trying to sell most of its business assets to repay creditors, including bond holders and former employees who are owed severance pay. The telecom equipment maker – founded in 1895 as Bell Canada's hardware manufacturing arm and known for years as Northern Electric – once dominated the Toronto Stock Exchange but has lost money nearly every year since 1998. The Investment Canada Act requires a review of all foreign acquistions, if the buyer is based in a member of the World Trade Organization, and the value is greater than $312 million. That threshold, in the past, referred to the book value.