STOCKHOLM -- Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) announces it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Drutt Corporation, a world leading provider of Service Delivery Platform (SDP) solutions. This deal represents yet another step in Ericsson's ambition to become the leader in multimedia.

Telecom operators need solutions to provide consumers with new attractive multimedia services and applications which can be created, launched, and presented to consumers easily, reducing costs and time to market.

This is where service delivery platforms play an important role by providing flexible tools for pricing and packaging, as well as uptake and consumer behavior analysis.

Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President Multimedia, Ericsson, says: "Being such an innovative and focused company, with close to 70 percent of its workforce dedicated to R&D and service delivery, Drutt adds an important piece to the Ericsson SDP strategy."

"Ericsson is already the leader in the fast growing SDP market. By acquiring Drutt, we will be even better positioned to support our customers to offer a better consumer experience by adapting content for the individual, and making it attractive to use," he added. "Our combination will provide operators with integration-ready platforms, thus reducing system integration complexity".

Drutt's flagship solution - MSDP (Mobile Service Delivery Platform) offers an end-to-end multi-channel solution for establishing a profitable mobile service delivery business helping operators mobilize and charge for any content to any kind of mobile device, over any mobile network and delivery channel.

Today, Drutt's MSDP is commercially deployed in more than 60 telecom operators in 35 countries, managing millions of transactions every day.

Drutt Corporation has subsidiaries in Sweden, China, Canada and Mexico and is owned by Provider Venture Partners Funds, TeliaSonera and certain employees. The company employs about 85 people and more than 90 percent of the employees reside in Sweden, where the global operations are located.

The transaction is conditioned upon approval by the relevant competition authorities and upon board approval by TeliaSonera AB (publ). The transaction will be closed through a direct purchase of 100 percent of Drutt's shares.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC)