Ericsson Completes Acquisition of Nortel CDMA, LTE Assets

Ericsson today announced it has completed the $1.13 billion acquisition of the bulk of Nortel's CDMA business and LTE assets in North America. This brings together the assets of two of the leading players in the wireless space, gives Ericsson some key wireless contracts involving up-and-coming technologies like LTE, and makes North America Ericsson’s largest region in terms of sales and its second largest in terms of employees.

 

“This deal, along with our recently announced services and LTE agreements, demonstrates the importance of the North American market to Ericsson,” says Hans Vestberg, Ericsson's new president and CEO. “Our strength in the region proves to our global customers that we are capable of continuing to provide the best equipment and services, in a scaleable and efficient way."

 

Through the deal, Ericsson got CDMA contracts with North American operators including Verizon, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Bell Canada, Telus and Leap, as well as LTE assets, certain patents and patent licenses relating to CDMA and LTE.

 

In addition to the contracts, gear and intellectual property, Ericsson gets the more than 2,500 Nortel employees in North America and China, meaning Ericsson now has 14,000 employees in North America.