New York, N.Y. – Sonenshine Partners today announced that it advised Riverstone Networks, Inc., a leading provider of carrier Ethernet routers, on the sale of its business operations to Lucent Technologies, Inc. for $170 million in cash.

For Riverstone, the transaction culminates the company's achievements over the past two years including: establishing a strong presence in one of the fastest growing segments of the service provider market; introducing technology advancements and new products; the creation of India-based research and development; and expanded deployments to Tier-1 carriers in North America, Europe and Asia.

"We are extremely pleased and energized to join forces with an industry leader that we have admired and with which we have closely collaborated over the past year," said Oscar Rodriguez, President and CEO of Riverstone. "We view this combination as a major win for our stockholders, customers, resellers and employees around the world. In addition to maximizing value for our stakeholders, this transaction will enable Riverstone to successfully build on its heritage of innovation. With Lucent, we will now be better able to address our customers' needs and to extend Riverstone's technology leadership into new markets while also keeping our development cycles on a fast track. In addition, Riverstone's employees will be part of a larger organization that is ideally positioned to compete in today's rapidly evolving global marketplace."

As a condition of the asset purchase agreement, Riverstone has agreed to conduct the sale of its business under the provisions of Chapter 11, section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Following this sale, Riverstone intends to satisfy its remaining non-operating liabilities including payment of its convertible subordinated notes in the amount of $65,875,000; provide for any contingent liabilities and costs of liquidation; and distribute its remaining cash to Riverstone's shareholders as part of a plan of liquidation.

Riverstone Networks, Inc. (Pink Sheets:RSTN - News) is a leading provider of carrier Ethernet infrastructure solutions for business and residential communications services. Riverstone's Ethernet router portfolio uniquely delivers the reliability that allows carriers to meet the triple play -- voice, video and data -- service requirements of their customers in a cost-effective and scalable way. Riverstone allows carriers to offer new services over existing revenue-generating networks permitting them to evolve to a next-generation Ethernet infrastructure.

Sonenshine Partners is a leading independent investment bank focused on providing integrated strategic, financial and corporate advisory services.  The firm was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in New York City.