Ericsson, Kapsch Acquire GSM Business

By Mark Evans | Published: November 25, 2009

Ericsson has picked up another part of Nortel’s wireless portfolio by acquiring part of the GSM business in a deal that also involves Kapsch CarrierCom AG.

Ericsson is buying $70-million for certain assets of Nortel’s GSM business in North America, while Austria-based Kapsch will pay $33-million to acquire most of the remaining assets outside North America.

“Along with our recent acquisition of Nortel’s CDMA and LTE assets, the transaction emphasizes Ericsson’s commitment to the North American market and strengthens our position as a leading provider of telecommunications technology and services in the United States and Canada” said Hans Vestberg, Ericsson’s incoming president and CEO of Ericsson. “Our Ericsson family will be once again enriched by the addition of the valuable Nortel employees.”

Earlier this year, Ericsson bought Nortel’s CDMA wireless business and LTE R&D unit for $1.13-million.

Source: CNN Money

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  • protosphere
    Even NRTLQ.PK is not listed as trading today...
  • Jimbo976
    The markets are closed in the US for Thanksgiving.
  • zeroman
    CVAS??? is that going to go for a song as well.
  • headabovewater
    .
  • bankrupt_bob
    Kapsch and trade?
  • whopperscan
    Does anyone know what's happening with the Asia side of wireless? Nortel had moved / was in process of moving, most GSM manufacturing to GDNT (a JV in china), and most R&D had moved to China as well....
    The Nortel release said Kapsch (whoever that is) bought "mostly europe and taiwan" assets. Taiwan had no GSM assets as far as I knew... just staff supporting a couple of major networks already built, some gradual expansions over time like any network. Ditto for India & Vietnam. PRC had some major Nortel GSM networks, but again built long ago....
    What a chicken-feed total amount... I doubt that purchase price would cover more than wages. I feel sorry for the good folks GSM had. All over the world.
  • bulletproof
    The price is very low on the Kapsch side: 33M$ is less than the revenue fees on software for one year. This doesn't mean it is not a good deal for future Kapsch people: it's better to be in a low debt company, rather than in a Nortel, no ?
    And once again, people can choose: if Kapsch doesn't offer good career perpsectives, then they can leave it...
  • whopperscan
    Yep a good point, it is far better for anyone, and anything, in Nortel to be bought out rapidly than left in the E&Y&lawyers fee-factory they're in now. It must be so soul-crushing, floating in limbo for such an incredibly long time, any decent customers avoiding you like the plague....
    Best of luck to any GSM folks lucky enough to get a gig in the new owners. It can only be light years better than the last 2 years (more?) of Nortel management and customers attitudes to it.
    Oh, for the I-believers, just stow it.... poor old Carrier / switching staff (this quarters ridiculous acronym for that LC is CVAS), stuck in limbo... I hope it's over soon, the wait must be horrible.
  • torontowatcher
    Thanks very much for your comments felixmk, indeed they're very interesting and provide us an interesting view of who you are!
  • felixmk
    Thanks. Always glad to share my opinion, even if not everyone agrees with me.
  • Baudelaire
    do not worry, everybody agrees except yourself regarding the perception you are giving of your own level of education and your high skills as a business analyst.

    In short: people going to Ericsson are not very likely to get another job there unfortunately, meanwhile the people who screwed GSM-R as you mention are very likely to get a job at Kapsch.

    Good luck mate, life must be difficult for you considering your level of frustration. Ask Mrs Felixmk for help, maybe she can fix you ?
  • bulletproof
    Hey, Baudelaire, you're still alive ? Didn't hear from you since a long time. In fact since 1867.
    And do not stay too long on forums: need to be ready to work hard for Kapsch tomorrow. A long and difficult way for all the future Kapsch employees, it seems...
  • felixmk
    You are most welcome. And good luck over at Ericsson or Kapsch!
  • less
    Nortel's defintion of GSM: We, uh, Got Some, like, Money for it, and stuff.
  • felixmk
    I hope Ericsson does not pick up any of the French employees who screwed up GSM.
  • PeopleAreOurStrength
    Ok, ladies & gentlemen, now is the time for usual french bashing….
    Your biased, misinformed, one-sided opinions are more than welcome.

    On your marks…..... Get Set…... GO !
  • less
    Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.
  • anand999
    For that price, Nortel should have just thrown it in as a freebie with the CDMA deal. Who knows how many man hours were spent cloning tools and libraries, restructuring the business units, etc. to prepare for the potential of CDMA and GSM ending up with different companies.
  • zeroman
    they must not have even thought of this. also they were in the clouds expecting another bidding war for GSM. Riedels team bright ideas maybe. he has to do something that he was sleeping for 3 years. they must have all been busy negotiating the land deal.
  • piloufromfrance
    I like your quick analysis, remember : this is the way, this is NORTEL,
    NORTEL doesn't know when a deal is good for them or not, 15 yo of mistakes
    Why would you think that it could change today

    Good luck to the remaining GSM NORTEL people to be sold
  • wasthere
    Ok, clean up is down. Now's the time for Nortel to get out of bankruptcy protection. With the LG venture, CVAS and the patents they have a strong base.
    We just need the creditors to accept the challenge and trade their debt for some shares in the new company and we are all back on the wagon ;-)))
  • NortelGal
    Yeah, right.
  • NTblinker
    i agree with you, now it is the time for a new restart, as a viable company.

    a question?

    Does Nortel has Wimax and LTE core businesses still or did they already sell those businesses among with the others being sold?
  • freqmgr
    They decided to drop out of the Wimax business....
  • wasthere
    LTE's business was sold to Ericsson and Wimax .......well another Nortel's fiasco.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/i...
  • NTblinker
    as i remember, LTE and Wimax ACCESS products had been sold or abondoned but a nortel spokesperson had said that Nortel would not quit from the LTE and Wimax core products so a new and small Nortel with a new board can be a very strong company in further years.
  • zeroman
    That is gone to. The LTE Wimax access was sold to Hitachi. it is Notel from this point on. there is no turning back now from the grave.
  • wasthere
    Never know. Coming up soon to haunt you : ''NortHell : The dawn of the dead '' starting Mike Z(ombie)
  • RamblingFish
    It of course depends on why you define as "Core" for LTE. The Packet Core that Hitachi bought was the Nortel GGSN, SGSN, SGW, PDNGW.

    The LTE "Voice and MultiMedia" Core is IMS, which Nortel stopped development of several years ago. The remaining bits of Nortel's IMS Core are still in CVAS.
  • less
    Somewhere Cisco is whimpering, the wasteful devils.
  • zeroman
    NSN might as well pack their bags and go home. E/// is going to keep them out come what may. There is no way they can break into NA now unless they acquire a tier 1 company, which is big money. Seem to be a risk averse company unsure of direction.

    Although it is going to be hard on Ciena, they made a bold move. If integrated quickly and well it will payoff, otherwise not. But at least they gave it a shot to move from 10th spot to 3rd place.
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