STOCKHOLM: Ericsson said on Monday it was acquiring US cloud-based communications provider Vonage, in the Swedish company’s biggest acquisition in recent memory, as it widens its operations beyond its traditional telecommunications equipment business.

The $6.2 billion (5.5 billion euros) deal is part of Ericsson’s strategy to expand its presence in wireless enterprise and broaden its global offerings, the company said.

The offer was unanimously approved by Vonage’s board of directors, it said.

Ericsson is among the world’s biggest telecom equipment makers, battling China’s Huawei and Finland’s Nokia in fields such as 5G networks.

At 21 dollars/share, the offer represents a 28 per cent premium over Vonage’s closing price on the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday.

Founded in 2001, Vonage offers IP voice telephony and has in recent years developed a cloud-based communications platform.

The company has 120,000 customers, allowing one million developers access to its API interface, which accounts for 80 per cent of its annual sales of $1.4 billion.

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