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"Today\u00A0Ericsson\u00A0has announced its intention to acquire 400 IT professionals and the &amp;quot;services capabilities&amp;quot; from\u00A0Devoteam Telecom &amp;amp;amp; Media in France. According to the growing firm, the move is part of its larger strategy to &amp;quot;broaden its IT capabilities.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThe deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013, given the success of usual closing conditions part of such purchases.\u00A0Ericsson\u00A0is not acquiring Devoteam proper, a firm with 5,000 employees, but instead this specific team in the country.\r\n\r\nIn addition to the warm bodies, the purchase also includes the acquisition of &amp;quot;TV SmartVision operations&amp;quot; from the other firm, a move that could relate to intellectual property. Financial terms were not disclosed.\r\n\r\nMagnus Mandersson, head of Ericsson's\u00A0Business Unit Global Services division, states that the purchase will bring the firm &amp;quot;unique expertise in complex, strategic and technical consulting engagements.&amp;quot; For its part, Devoteam hailed Ericsson as a key partner to it, making the exchange of several hundred of its employees perhaps more sensical; if they were to work with\u00A0Ericsson, why not work\u00A0for Ericsson?\r\n\r\nEricsson, a storied company based in Sweden, invented Bluetooth, and produced at one point cellphones as part of a joint venture with Sony. Sony later acquired that entire business.\r\n\r\nThe 400 IT denizens in France will join Ericsson's 12,000, helping the firm in the European region.\r\n\r\nTop Image Credit:\u00A0francois"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/21/ericsson-to-acquire-a-400-person-it-services-professionals-team-to-bolster-its-telecom-operations/>