Bankruptcy court judges in Delaware and Ontario were initially unhappy with the amount Ciena would be paid if its plan to buy the Nortel unit was unsuccessful but gave the bid process the green light Thursday.

The Optical Networking business includes some of its most prized businesses units, intellectual properties and employees.

Ciena has agreed to offer jobs to at least 2,000 employees, nearly doubling the size of the Maryland-based company's global work force.

The Toronto-based Nortel has been selling off its global operations piece by piece after seeking court protection from creditors in January.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.