Nortel to acquire PEC for $448 million

Telecom gear maker Nortel Networks said Tuesday that it will buy federal contractor PEC Solutions for $448 million in cash. PEC, which was founded in 1985, is a systems integrator and consultancy that works with homeland security, law enforcement, intelligence and defense agencies.

Analyst firm CIBC World Markets estimates that Nortel will have about $3 billion in cash left after the deal closes. Nortel has been struggling for the past year to put its books back in order after accounting irregularities were discovered. An investigation and financial restatements revealed that Nortel had inflated some of its reported profits.