Ericsson made a public cash offer to acquire Tandberg Television for SEK 9.8 billion (US$1.4 billion), or NOK 106 in cash per share — representing a premium of 18.2% to Tandberg’s 90-day volume weighted average stock price.
The bid represents a 10.4% premium over the acquisition offer made by ARRIS on 15-January-2007.
Ericsson said it makes a better strategic partner for Tandberg TV because together the companies could offer a complete IPTV solution.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, president and CEO, Ericsson, said “IPTV for cable and telecom operators is the biggest networked multimedia opportunity going forward. Ericsson and Tandberg Television is a strong combination with a unique ability to offer complete IPTV solutions. Tandberg’s leading TV technology and customer base and our global presence and strong position in IP networks and IMS, will create a leading player in networked media solutions for telecom, cable and satellite operators as well as media companies.”http://www.ericsson.com
http://www.tandbergtv.com
- Earlier this year, Ericsson acquired Entrisphere, a start-up specializing in GPON fiber access technology, for an undisclosed sum. The core of the Entrisphere GPON solution includes Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), Optical Network Units (ONUs) and management systems. The solution also includes software upgrades that expand existing IP service-aware features such as IGMP multicasting, VLAN stacking and tagging, and security upgrades.
- In December 2006, Ericsson acquired Redback Networks for $2.1 billion.
- Earlier in 2006, Ericsson closed its acquisition of Marconi. This deal, which was valued at US$2 billion when it was announced in October 2005, included Marconi’s optical networking business, Marconi’s broadband and fixed radio access network business, Marconi’s softswitch business, and Marconi’s data networking equipment and services businesses.