Ericsson acquires Vonage for £5.2bn

Telecommunications company Ericsson has completed its $6.2bn (£5.2bn) acquisition of American cloud communications company Vonage. 

Vonage is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ericsson and will become a separate business area within Ericsson. Vonage common stock has stopped trading and will not be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market now.

Vonage will still operate under its current name and brand, as part of Ericsson. 

Current Vonage CEO Rory Read will be Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Global Communications Platform as well as a member of Ericsson’s Executive Team.

The acquisition was funded with cash on hand.

Rory Read said, “Vonage was born out of innovation and is today a global leader in business cloud communications. This partnership will strengthen our offerings to businesses across the globe by leveraging Ericsson’s leadership in 5G, global market presence and strong R&D capabilities.”

Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson, said, “We are excited to welcome Vonage as part of Ericsson.”