Weeks ago rumors surfaced of a potential buyout of Ericsson’s half of the Sony Ericsson mobile business. It was one of those rumors that just made sense, and today has been confirmed.
Sony and Ericsson have formally agreed to a deal which has Sony buying out Ericsson’s 50% stake in their joint mobile business venture. Sony will pay Ericsson to the tune of 1.05 billion Euros for Ericsson’s entire stake, as well as a number of mobile-related patents.
The Japanese and Swedish companies originally joined forces in 2001 in an attempt boost profitability in a market where each were struggling separately. As of today, Sony Ericsson is the 6th-largest player in the mobile market, thanks to handsets like the Xperia PLAY.
Sony is using this move to unify their mobile offering with other branches of their business, including their networked services such as the PlayStation Network and Music Unlimited.
The deal is pending regulatory approvals and is expected to close some time in January 2012.
