WSJ Reports Avaya to File for IPO

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Avaya could file for a $1 billion IPO as soon as this week. According to the Journal, the company could be valued at $5 billion.

Avaya paid almost a billion dollars in 2009 to acquire Nortel's Enterprise division out of bankruptcy, and Silver Lake Partners and TPG, two private equity firms, together paid $8.2 billion to take Avaya private in 2007. It shouldn't come as a surprise that, in today's economic climate, Avaya's valuation would have fallen from that peak, but it's still a sobering reminder of the challenges that Avaya has struggled with in recouping Silver Lake and TPG's investment.

We'll update this story as it develops.