Ericsson spins off its Enterprise direct sales operations into partnership with A

Ericsson spins off its Enterprise direct sales operations into partnership with Apax Partners Ericsson today announced the sale of its Enterprise direct sales and service operations in 18 countries, with approximately 2,400 employees, to Apax Partners Funds for USD 480 million (SEK 4725 million). Ericsson will retain a 20% stake in a new company and will together with Apax Partners develop the business. The aim of the partnership is to become the leading global communications network integrator for voice, data and mobility products and services. The new company, Enterprise Solutions, will be Ericsson Enterprise's largest and most sophisticated indirect sales channel, operating in the medium to high end of the enterprise market with advanced systems and network integration. "Apax Partners is uniquely placed to help the new company grow and develop due to its considerable expertise in the telecom industry," said Lars E. Svensson, President, Ericsson Enterprise AB. "Apax Partners' vision for the company, as an independent entity, gives an unprecedented opportunity to maximize its potential, building on its strong customer relationships. The new company will provide existing and new customers with tailored solutions which will enable them to reap the benefits of emerging technologies on the back of their existing systems." David FitzGerald, Director, Apax Partners said "Using Ericsson's clear leadership position in mobility solutions, we expect the company to develop into the leading independent global network integrator and solution provider. The partnership with Ericsson gives us a world class brand, a strong customer base and a global sales infrastructure in a rapidly growing market." The new company will continue to seek to build mutually beneficial relationships with third party suppliers as part of its growth and development strategy. In addition to Ericsson, it has established relationships with a number of other product manufacturers such as Rockwell and Extreme Networks. The principal geographies for the new company are in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, and the UK. In addition, the company has operations in Argentina, Belgium, Columbia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Venezuela. This transaction reflects both Ericsson Enterprise's stated indirect sales strategy, and the datacom market trend towards indirect sales channels as a way of increasing levels of service and value-added to customers. Ericsson intends to increase its market penetration at all levels of the marketplace through a variety of indirect channels. Ericsson Enterprise will continue to concentrate on developing products and solutions, marketing and sales support for its sales partners in order to bring mobility products and solutions to the business user. David FitzGerald and Nikos Stathopoulos will represent Apax Partners on the Board of Enterprise Solutions. Lars E. Svensson of Ericsson Enterprise will represent Ericsson. The transaction will be subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in April 2001. Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Lena Hyttsten, Communications Director, Ericsson Enterprise AB Phone: +46 8 422 0317, or +46 70 246 9494 E-mail: Lena.Hyttsten@ebc.ericsson.se Lars E. Svensson; President, Ericsson Enterprise AB Phone: +46 8 422 1631, or +46 70 570 2708 E-mail: Lars.Svensson@ebc.ericsson.se Ole Selchau, Press Manager, Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 8 719 0626, or +46 70 519 4460 E-mail: Ole.Selchau@lmd.ericsson.se Siobhan Loftus, Director of Marketing, Apax Partners Phone: +44 20 7872 6495 E-mail: Siobhan.Loftus@apax.co.uk Clare Sillars, Press Officer, Apax Partners Phone: +44 20 7872 6476 E-mail: Clare.Sillars@apax.co.uk About Apax Partners Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups. It pursues a balanced equity portfolio strategy, investing in companies at all stages of development from start-up to buy-out. Apax Partners invests in companies across its 6 chosen global growth sectors of: information technology; telecommunications; media; financial services; healthcare and retail/consumer products. The firm has 160 investment professionals operating in ten countries across Europe, Israel, the United States and Japan. Some of Apax Partners Funds' investments include Autonomy Corporation, Dialog Semiconductor, TDL Infomedia, Bundesdruckerei, The Stationery Office, and Future Network. Apax Partners manages and advises over Euro 12 billion on behalf of leading institutional investors around the world. For more information please visit http://www.apax.com.