According to a report in The Mail, Ericsson is planning a $2.3 billion acquisition of UK-based telecom equipment maker Marconi, roughly twice its current market value. The hefty price tag takes into account a £413 million UK tax loss and the £228 million hole in Marconi's pension fund. The report claims Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Lazard are representing Marconi in the deal with Enskilda acting for Ericsson. Ericsson plans to retain 80 percent of the company while piecemealing the remainder. Marconi cut more than 800 jobs in May after losing a £10 billion BT contract to Ericsson. Marconi was previously in talks with Siemens, Alcatel and China-based Huawei. An announcement is expected within 10 days.
For more on the rumored Ericsson, Marconi deal:
- read this piece [1] from ZDNet
Links:
[1] http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-5892102.html