Ericsson acquires majority stake in enterprise IT cloud company Apcera

Adds next-generation platform as-a-service (PaaS) technology to Ericsson Cloud System. Ericsson sees PaaS as key to success in cloud Provides governance and automation of operator and enterprise IT operationsApcera will operate as a standalone company and Ericsson commits significant  funding for Apcera's technology and global expansion of its enterprise sales channelStrengthens Ericsson's position in the cloud market by extending the company's network approach into operator and enterprise cloud

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) today announced it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Apcera, a U.S.-based enterprise services company and creator of the next-generation platform as-a-service (PaaS) called Continuum(TM) which works across cloud, on premise and hybrid environments. In addition, Ericsson commits to significant funding toward development of next-generation technology as well as sales channel and ecosystem creation.

Cloud technology is disrupting the global ICT infrastructure market, and service providers must modernize to provide more value to their customers. With the addition of Apcera's PaaS technology to Ericsson's Cloud offerings, Ericsson will deliver complete cloud automation to run all workloads and use cases, while providing complete control for infrastructure.

Ericsson is the leader in policy-based automation and governance of telecom networks. The acquisition shows the company's ambition in extending that same approach into operator and enterprise clouds. Cloud is one of the strategic areas Ericsson is targeting for growth, and establishing leadership in PaaS is a key to its success.

Jason Hoffman, Vice President and Head of Product Line Cloud Software, Ericsson says: "The beauty of the cloud is that it is much more efficient to develop, roll-out and operate applications. To realize the full potential, cloud environments need security and governance, which our partnership with Guardtime and our acquisition of a majority stake in Apcera provides. With these technologies in place, enterprises and individuals can trust the integrity and the confidentiality of their infrastructure."  

Derek Collison, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Apcera says: "We welcome Ericsson's backing. With a history of transforming the world's most demanding businesses and the global ability to deploy and scale critical infrastructure, Ericsson will enable us to accelerate our innovation of Continuum and provide enterprises the next-generation platform that enables them to achieve a significantly faster time-to-market as they deploy, orchestrate and govern a diverse set of workloads, both on premise and in the cloud."

Apcera was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California, in the United States. Apcera is the creator and provider of Continuum(TM), an IT platform-as-a-service that enables enterprises to securely and transparently control the allocation and consumption of IT resources on premise and in the cloud.

The acquisition is expected to close during Q4 2014, subject to customary closing conditions. Apcera will operate as a standalone company after the closing and will be consolidated financially under Segment Networks.  

NOTES TO EDITORS

TELEBRIEFING FOR ANALYSTS AND MEDIA - SEPTEMBER 24

You are welcome to join a telebriefing audio conference for industry analysts and media on this subject.

Wednesday, Sept 24, 2014

5pm CET (4pm UK time, 8am Pacific Daylight Time and 11am Eastern Daylight Time in the US).

Jason Hoffman and Apcera CEO Derek Collison will comment on the announcement and take questions. Please download the slides, available here one hour prior to the telebriefing:  http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/industry-analysts

Sweden: +46 8 50 520 271 (Sweden free phone: 0200-125 785)UK: +44 208 817 93 11 (UK free phone: 0800 368 0982)US: +1 718 354 1228 (US free phone: 1 866 629 2707)Confirmation number: 7101 6018#

Please call in at least 15 minutes before the conference call begins.

Download high-resolution photos and broadcast-quality video at www.ericsson.com/press

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Our services, software and infrastructure - especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud - are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.

With more than 110,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world's mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions - and our customers - stay in front.   

Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in 2013 were SEK 227.4 billion (USD 34.9 billion). Ericsson is listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Ericsson Corporate Communications
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Ericsson acquires majority stake in enterprise IT cloud company Apcera


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Source: Ericsson via Globenewswire
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