Ericsson and Abengoa sign agreement for the transfer of Spanish fiber-services leader Abentel

July 6, 2016, 10:21 (CEST)

• Further enhances Ericsson's comprehensive end-to-end fiber services offering

• About 500 fiber services experts will join Ericsson

• Ericsson plans to leverage globally on Abentel's competence and skills to continue growing in this field

• Closing of the deal expected during Q3

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Abentel, an Abengoa (NASDAQ:ABGB) subsidiary, entered an activities transfer agreement, under which Abentel's assets, projects and employees will be transferred to Ericsson, further enhancing its comprehensive end-to-end fiber services offering.

The agreement reinforces Ericsson's leadership position in telecommunication services specifically in Fiber Network Deployment and maintenance, where Ericsson is conducting important projects in different countries.

About 500 services professionals specialized in fiber networks roll-out and maintenance services will join Ericsson, bringing a relevant set of skills to continue expanding in the growing field of fiber-related services.

Bringing together the competence, tools and process of both companies will allow Ericsson to create a global hub for fiber services, from where to continue strengthening its presence in this growing market.

The demand for fiber-optic transmission is rapidly growing to accommodate increasing bandwidth requirements driven by new applications, specifically video services. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report 85 percent of data traffic generated by the use of smartphone video apps goes over Wi-Fi, mainly indoors.

Richard Hoepner, Head of Network Roll-Out and Customer Support, Ericsson, says:

"Fiber is a key component for the next generation all-optical IP network. By acquiring Abentel's capabilities and coupling them with Ericsson's world-class service offering, Ericsson can deliver unmatched scalability for its customers' fiber projects. This agreement is a winning combination as it brings together the global leader in telecommunications services with one of the leading fiber-related service provider in Spain."

Ericsson has a global best practice based end-to-end Fiber Network Deployment offering with services for Planning & Design, Build and Project Management. Ericsson's fiber deployment methodology and integrated, end-to-end real-time tools give the company unique capabilities to efficiently scale large and complex projects.

Ericsson is the leading provider of network roll-out services worldwide with a solid track record and global footprint of Managed Fiber Network Operations. Additionally, Ericsson has partnerships in place to enable competitive supply and provisioning of complete broadband access solutions. The transfer and integration of Abentel's business - including approval from Spanish competition authority -is expected to be completed during Q3.