Ericsson to buy Telcordia for $1.15 billion cash

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mobile network equipment maker Ericsson said on Tuesday it would spend $1.15 billion in cash to buy U.S. group Telcordia to boost its presence in the operations and business support sector.

Ericsson said in a statement the agreement would lead to 2,600 employees being transferred to it. Telcordia is being sold by Providence Equity Partners, LLC and Warburg Pincus.

"The importance of operations and business support systems will continue to grow as more and more devices are connected, services become mobile and new business models for mobile broadband are introduced," Ericsson Chief Executive Hans Vestberg said in the statement.

"In this context, Telcordia brings very skilled people and knowledge, a large business in North America and other markets, as well as a good multi-vendor product portfolio."

Ericsson said it expected the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of this year with full effect from the first quarter of next year.

(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; Editing by David Holmes)