Strengthens Services Capabilities With 1,000 Systems Integration Experts

· Acquires Italian Pride Spa, a consulting and systems integration company

· Now 40,000 services professionals around the world

· Adds competence and capacity to growing business


Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has agreed to buy 100% of the shares in Pride Spa. Pride Spa has about 1,000 experts in consulting and systems integration, operating in Italy. Closing of the deal is expected by February 1, 2010.



Jan Frykhammar, CFO and head of business unit Global Services, says: “We are taking another important step to increase our capabilities in the growing services business. Consulting and systems integration are key areas in a more complex telecom environment when end-user services become more advanced and fixed and mobile networks converge. The acquisition brings 1,000 highly skilled employees to further strengthening our offering in the systems integration and consultancy field.”



Antonio Giugliano, CEO and founder of the Pride Group, says: “I am proud to announce this deal which proves the attractiveness of Pride Spa’s employees and the talent and knowledge they possess. We have gained this expertise during our 20 years in business. I am glad to know that our colleagues will join the world’s leading services and technology company in the telecom industry.”



Over the past five years, Ericsson has acquired five companies in the field of systems integration and consulting:



· Audilog, France, September 2004, 60 employees
www.ericsson.com/ericsson/news/archive/2004/040922_audilog.shtml

· Teleca OSS, Sweden, July 2005, 40 employees
www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/releases/2005/07/1001297

· TUSC, Australia, November 2005, 84 employees
www.ericsson.com/au/ericsson/press/2008/20080829_tusc_integrate.html

· HyC, Spain, December 2007, 110 employees
www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/releases/2007/12/1177557

· Bizitek, Turkey, May 2009, 115 employees
www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/releases/2009/05/1318123



The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.



Notes to editors:

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Ericsson is the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 1 billion subscribers and has a leading position in managed services. The company’s portfolio comprises of mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.



Ericsson is advancing its vision of “to be the prime driver in an all-communicating world” through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 75,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 209 billion (USD 32.2 billion) in 2008. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

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About Ericsson’s Consulting and Systems Integration

More advanced end-user services and the need to fulfill consumer expectations, combined with market liberalization, create pressure to transform the world of communication. To remain competitive, operators and service providers need to take a holistic approach to processes, people, tools and technology when transforming and modernizing their business and operations.

Ericsson has more than 10,000 consulting and systems integration experts providing services in the areas of business strategy, operational efficiency, OSS/BSS transformation, competence development and network technology modernization. Ericsson delivers more than 1.300 consulting and systems integration projects per year in multi vendor and multi-technology environments to operators, governments, utilities and transport organizations. These range from end-to-end transformation projects to single-solution assignments.