Ericsson to buy cloud service company Vonage in $6.2B deal

LONDON (AP) — Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson says it’s buying U.S. cloud communications company Vonage in a $6.2 billion deal that will help it expand wireless services for business customers. Ericsson said Monday that the acquisition would also give it access to software developers who it can tap to build new applications that advantage of new features built into new fifth generation high speed wireless networks that Ericsson is building. Ericsson agreed to buy Vonage for $21 a share in the all-cash deal, which is 28% higher than Vonage’s closing share price on Friday. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022.