Ericsson closes $6.2 billion Vonage deal after short delay

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Ericsson on Thursday closed its $6.2 billion Vonage acquisition, nearly a month after it was delayed due to a pending investigation by a U.S. national security panel.

The Swedish telecom gear maker is looking to tap Vonage’s communication platform to help developers create applications using network information, user authentication, bandwidth, responsiveness, energy efficiency, security and reliability.

Vonage will operate as an independent unit of Ericsson and its CEO Rory Read will join the Swedish’s company’s executive team.

First announced in November, Vonage was the largest deal in Ericsson’s history, and a follow-up to its $1.1 billion Cradlepoint buy as the company is looking to boost its presence in wireless enterprise networks and communication platforms.

Ericsson plans to invest more in these two businesses and will also look for acquisitions, CTO Erik Ekudden said in a Reuters interview.

Vonage deal will add to earnings from 2024.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; editing by Niklas Pollard)