Ericsson in pole position to buy Nokia Siemens unit - report

The exterior of Ericsson's headquarters are seen in Stockholm April 30, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Bob Strong/Files

STOCKHOLM | Mon Sep 3, 2012 8:05pm IST

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ericsson, the world's top mobile network infrastructure supplier, is in pole position to buy the business support systems (BSS) unit of rival Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), Dow Jones Newswires reported on Monday.

In addition to Ericsson, U.S. telecoms equipment maker Amdocs is also interested in the BSS unit, which provides billing and charging systems for telecoms operators, Dow Jones quoted a source familiar with the matter saying.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters the unit was among assets NSN was considering selling, but could not confirm a deal was imminent.

Ericsson and NSN, a joint venture between Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG, declined to comment. Amdocs was not immediately available for comment.

NSN is in the middle of a slimming programme that will also cut 17,000 of the group's workforce - or almost a quarter of the total - in an effort to improve its finances.

Sweden-based Ericsson has been expanding rapidly in BSS and operations support systems (OSS), last year buying Telcordia in the United States for $1.1 billion.

A recent survey by consultancy Gartner ranked Ericsson top globally by revenues in OSS and BSS services, including sales acquired with Telcordia.

NSN made a profit of 27 million euros on a non-IFRS basis in the second quarter on sales of 3.3 billion.

(Editing by David Holmes)

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HCL Infosystems surges on report of Lenovo interest

Workers are seen at their workstations on the floor of an outsourcing centre in Bangalore, February 29, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Vivek Prakash/Files

BANGALORE | Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:50am IST

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Shares of HCL Infosystems(HCLI.NS) surged more than 20 percent after a local newspaper reported China's Lenovo Group(0992.HK) is in talks to buy a 50.1 percent controlling stake in the Indian company for around 5 billion rupees.

The Financial Chronicle reported the talks, citing unnamed senior officials at personal computer maker Lenovo and investment bankers familiar with the development.

HCL Infosystems' corporate communications head Ashutosh Bhattacharya told Reuters in a text message that the company would make a statement later on Tuesday.

Shares in HCL Infosystems, which manages computer systems for large organisations, mostly in India, were trading up 16.3 percent at 0605 GMT. Lenovo shares were down 0.5 percent.

For the quarter ended June 30, HCL Infosystems reported consolidated profit of 20 million rupees compared with 115 million rupees a year earlier. Sales for the quarter rose to 27.2 billion rupees from 26.2 billion rupees.

HCL Infosystems also makes its own branded computers including laptops, desktops and tablets. The company decided in June to streamline its computer products business into a separate wholly owned subsidiary.

(Reporting By Harichandan Arakali; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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