ACQUISITION Archives | Page 2 of 3

Telecom News

Ericsson to acquire Vonage

By Aiste Kryzanovske November 25, 2021

Ericsson, a global networking company, has announced its plan to buy Vonage, a cloud-platform company based in the United States, for $6.2 billion. Ericsson is getting a more contemporary communications strategy with Vonage, which includes a cloud contact center, communications APIs, and a VoIP solution. The move reflects Ericsson’s growing attempts to join the enterprise market, with the goal of enabling these clients to take use of new services in addition to the high speeds enabled by 5G networks. This merger, though, is not about 5G. Ericsson is concentrating on Vonage’s communications APIs, which it hopes will allow it to access a global network of developers working on 4G and 5G technologies. Vonage is a cloud-based communications provider that allows clients to incorporate communications, such as voice, video, and messaging, into apps and products through its Vonage Communications Platform. Ericsson believes that Vonage’s cloud platform, which now serves…

Telecom News

KKR considering TIM takeover

By Aiste Kryzanovske November 23, 2021

The Italian telecoms operator TIM is evaluating the US investment group’s KKR expression of interest in acquiring the full capital stake of the company, a potential 11 billion euro transaction. The proposal was lodged by the US investment fund at a price of €0.505 per share, a 45.7 percent premium over the share’s closing price on Friday. TIM described KKR’s expression of interest as “friendly,” with the goal of securing approval from TIM’s board and management. Telecom Italia said its board of directors met and addressed the fund’s interest in initiating a prospective public tender, which is subject to a four-week period of due diligence and clearance from the Italian government, that has veto power over the group’s purchase. Although TIM is a private corporation, because it is considered a strategic asset for Italy, the Italian government has the right to decline any purchase that it believes would…

Telecom News

Viasat to acquire Inmarsat

By Aiste Kryzanovske November 9, 2021

Viasat, a worldwide communications company, and Inmarsat, a major UK-based supplier of global mobile satellite communications services, have announced the signing of a formal agreement under which Viasat will buy Inmarsat for $7.3 billion. The merger will establish a global communications leader with increased size and breadth to link the globe more economically, safely and securely. The new organization’s complementary assets and resources will allow the launch of innovative new services in both the mobile and fixed segments, giving customers more options in broadband communications and narrowband services, such as IoT. The merged business intends to combine both companies’ spectrum, satellite and terrestrial assets into a worldwide high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network able to offer exceptional service in the rapidly developing commercial and government sectors. Together, these businesses will establish a formidable multi-spectrum, multi-orbit powerhouse. With production and people capacity around the world, the new company…

Telecom News

Vodafone still in talks to sell its Egypt unit to STC

By Aiste Kryzanovske September 15, 2020

Vodafone Group, a British multinational telecommunications company, and the Saudi Arabia-based telecommunications provider Saudi Telecom Company (STC) are continuing discussion over a 55% stake sale of Vodafone shares in its Egyptian business, despite the expiry of the initial offer deadline last week. The two parties agreed in separate statements on a “misalignment” on Vodafone’s side in preparation for a $2.4 billion transaction of its Egyptian stake. STC said that the non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire the stake had ended without an agreement, but negotiations with Vodafone would continue. Furthermore, the British telecom company commented: “Vodafone now looks to STC and Telecom Egypt to find a suitable agreement to enable the transaction to close.” The MoU was announced in January of this year when STC offered $2.4 billion for the major part of a stake in Vodafone Egypt, which was expected to close at the end of…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #35

By Aiste Kryzanovske August 28, 2020

Telefonica acquires Govertis Advisory Services The Spanish international telecommunications company, Telefonica, has announced the acquisition of the Valencia-based consulting company Govertis Advisory Services. The procurement was made through its subsidiary the cybersecurity company ElevenPaths. According to Telefonica, Govertis offers solutions that combine both legal and technological aspects of cybersecurity. The purchase of Govertis is related to Telefonica‘s ongoing investments in security through the development of proprietary solutions, the implementation of technologies in the global SOC network, and the acquisition of and investment in new companies. Eduard Chaveli, CEO and founder of Govertis, commented that this deal was a “natural next step in a long-standing relationship”. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/y2lr9pl7 Argentinian government freezes Telco prices Argentina‘s government has extended a ruling applicable to Internet, mobile and pay-TV providers, preventing them from raising their prices until the end of 2020. These measurements were first implemented in May of this year to combat…

Telecom News

ClearlyIP expands to North America with the acquisition of Telrad

By Vilija Simkiene July 22, 2020

ClearlyIP, a global provider of cloud and VoIP business telephony solutions, has acquired all the telecom assets of the Vancouver-based Telrad Technology Group Ltd, a privately-held company that has been serving the telecom needs of small and medium-sized businesses across Canada and the United States for more than 40 years. This acquisition will enable ClearlyIP to expand its cloud services business, and focus its resources on developing innovative solutions backed with best-in-class customer service. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin (US), ClearlyIP said that they will continue to support and maintain Telrad’s cloud and voice business solutions. Furthermore, ClearlyIP is also acquiring the entire Telrad team, adding an office in Vancouver, British Columbia, to ensure a seamless transition for customers and distribution partners. According to Tony Lewis, CEO of ClearlyIP, the company is implementing its strategy to increase organic growth through targeted acquisitions that will further expand the scale and resources required by…

Telecom News

Conn3ct snaps up ICR Speech Solutions and Services

By Vilija Simkiene July 1, 2020

The Apiary Capital portfolio company Conn3ct, a provider of unified communications, contact center and global network service solutions, has acquired ICR Speech Solutions and Services Limited (ICR), a highly specialized speech application development company involved in interactive voice response (IVR) and next-generation speech bot technology. Conn3ct said that this acquisition is a major event in the company’s strategy, and adds important skills and intellectual property to IVR, which is essential for delivering an optimum call center customer experience. According to a statement, this partnership with ICR will enable Conn3ct to offer a fully automated caller experience, where complex queries are quickly identified and routed to a live agent. IVR is a critical contact center technology that provides the initial response to the calling customers before they reach an agent. Substantial advances in technology and the introduction of artificial intelligence and machine learning have driven IVR from basic call management to…

Telecom News

Telefonica Deutschland hands over 10,100 telecom sites to Telxius

By Vilija Simkiene June 10, 2020

Telefonica Deutschland Holding AG, the leading mobile operator in the German market, has announced an agreement to sell about 10,100 telecom sites to the group’s majority-owned tower infrastructure arm Telxius Telecom for EUR 1.5 billion. The acquisition deal includes 10,000 rooftop sites and up to 80 tower sites, as well as an obligation to build 2,400 new sites (BTS). This move will ensure the company’s exceptional future growth in Germany, Europe’s largest telecom market, where a robust deployment by operators is expected to improve mobile broadband coverage and secure the future deployment of 5G. Markus Haas, CEO of Telefonica Deutschland, said, “This is one of the largest and most important transactions in the history of Telefonica Deutschland. It represents an important milestone in focusing our business activities. We are pursuing a clear course based on our growth strategy. Within this strategy, we are focusing on further improving the quality of the O2 network for our…

Telecom News

Samsung snaps up TeleWorld Solutions to boost 5G deployment in the US

By Vilija Simkiene January 15, 2020

Samsung Electronics has completed an agreement to acquire network services provider TeleWorld Solutions (TWS). Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, TWS provides network design, testing and optimization services to mobile service and cable operators, equipment OEMs and other companies in the United States. This acquisition is expected to help Samsung address the need for end-to-end support in delivering network solutions aimed at upgrading the 5G and 4G LTE networks, and providing connectivity service advancements in the US. Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics, said, “The acquisition of TWS will enable us to meet mobile carriers’ growing needs for improving their 4G and 5G networks, and eventually create new opportunities to enhance our service capabilities to our customers. Samsung will continue to drive innovation in communications technology, while providing optimization services for network deployments that accelerate US 5G network expansion.” Under the agreement,…

Telecom News

Gamma takes on Telsis to boost its UCaaS offering

By Vilija Simkiene November 27, 2019

Gamma Communications, a rapidly growing provider of communications services to the UK business market, has announced its acquisition of Telsis Communication Services, a UK-based developer of unified communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) products for small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Gamma anticipates that this acquisition will bring the right combination of specialist development skills and engineering expertise, thus helping the company to achieve its strategic goal of becoming a leading UCaaS campaigner. Andrew Taylor, Chief Executive of Gamma, said, “We’re really pleased to announce the acquisition of Telsis. The development skills they have are core to Gamma’s UCaaS strategy and we plan to enhance our existing engineering teams to provide more resource to accelerate our existing roadmap. We look forward to working alongside the Telsis team as we continue to grow Gamma and capitalise on the opportunities ahead.” The transaction, the value of which is estimated between GBP 2 to 3 billion, follows…