Avaya in talks to be sold: Wall St Journal

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Telecommunications equipment maker Avaya Inc. (AV.N) is in talks with private equity and strategic bidders about selling all or part of the company, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Avaya, which has a market capitalization of more than $6.1 billion, is in talks with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners about a leveraged buyout, according to the report.

Avaya also has held recent talks with rival Nortel Networks Corp. (NT.TO) NT.N about a possible deal, but the two sides failed to agree on a price or on whether Nortel would use cash or stock to fund the deal, according to the report.

Avaya and Nortel are still in contact, however, and a deal could materialize, the WSJ said.

Avaya could not be immediately reached for comment. Nortel and Silver Lake declined to comment.