Nokia Acquires LCC International's U.S. Deployment Business
Matador,
Are you familiar with LCC International (LCCI), a radio-frequencey engineering and consulting firm with a global presence?
Their web site is here:
lcc.com
They are headquartered in McLean VA and employ 977 people globally (although only 80 are affected by this transaction). "LCC International, Inc., is an independent provider of integrated end-to-end solutions for wireless voice and data communications networks with offerings ranging from high-level technical consulting to system design and turnkey deployment, to ongoing operations and maintenance services. Since the Company's inception, it has delivered wireless network solution services to more than 350 customers in over 50 countries. Customers outside of the United States accounted for 58.1% of its $194 million revenues, during the year ended December 31, 2005."
Apparently this is a move to strengthen Nokia Networks US presence, and they need to do that. While I'm not familiar with the firm, as Karri Rinta of Nordea commented ...
"Nokia's networks unit's market position in the United States has been weaker than elsewhere ... anything they do there is a positive step. This is a very small, but consistent step."
I would guess that the 2 firms have been working joint projects for carriers or prospective carriers here, and the acquisition grew out of that. No financial terms of the acquisition have been disclosed.
>> Nokia Acquires LCC International's U.S. Deployment Business
Nokia, LLC
Atlanta and McLean, VA, USA
June 05, 2006
nokia.com
Acquisition mutually strengthens both companies' respective delivery and services strategies
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and LCC International Inc., (NASDAQ: LCCI) announced today that the companies have reached an agreement for LCC to transfer its U.S. deployment operations to Nokia. Deployment operations include civil works and site acquisition services. As part of the agreement, a number of LCC's existing U.S. deployment contracts and assets used to support the U.S. deployment operations will transfer to Nokia upon completion of the deal which is expected to close within the next 45 days. The agreement will impact up to 80 LCC employees, many of whom will have the opportunity to become Nokia employees.
Today's announcement further enables Nokia and LCC to execute on their respective strategies within the wireless sector. For Nokia, this move addresses operator demand for a partner that can deliver a complete range of services, from deployment operations to consulting and integration to managed services. Delivery services, in particular, continues to be a significant area for operators as they seek to reduce operating expenditures. The addition of LCC's deployment operations to Nokia's delivery services portfolio enhances a highly experienced team to execute network rollouts across the country. LCC continues to expand its world class engineering and wireless consultative services operation.
"This agreement is a direct result of LCC's strategy and plan that was announced earlier this year," Dean Douglas, LCC's CEO, said. "With LCC's exit from the deployment business in the U.S., we can now focus our resources to support the growing and expanding engineering and consulting services opportunities both domestically and internationally in the wireless marketplace." Mr. Douglas further adds, "We also wanted to ensure we minimized the impact to our deployment customers and employees throughout this transition and we believe this transition accomplishes that goal. We are proud of the work and effort that our deployment group has contributed to this operation and feel they will make a solid contribution to Nokia's Networks division."
"Nokia's Networks division has shown steady growth in North America, and today's announcement with LCC demonstrates a continuation of that growth and our commitment to providing services that address our customer's needs in North America," said Mark Louison, Senior Vice President, Networks, North America. "We look forward to expanding Nokia's full-range services portfolio with LCC's expertise in deployment operations to deliver a best-in-class customer experience."
The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions including customary conditions with respect to third party consents and similar matters described in the transaction documents. The terms of this transaction are summarized in a Form 8-K filed by LCC with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the same day of the issuance of this press release.
About LCC
LCC International, Inc. is a global leader in voice and data design, deployment and management solutions to the wireless telecommunications industry. Since 1983, LCC has performed technical services for the largest wireless operators in North and South America, Europe, The Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Company has worked with all major access technologies and has participated in the success of some of the largest and most sophisticated wireless systems in the world. Through an integrated set of technical business consulting, training, design, deployment, operations and maintenance services, LCC is unique in its ability to provide comprehensive turnkey services to wireless operators around the world. News and additional information are available at www.lcc.com. <<
Reuters added these comments:
>> Nokia to Buy U.S. business from LCC Intl
tinyurl.com
<snip> ... Major mobile infrastructure vendors such as Nokia and its Swedish rival Ericsson are aiming to boost their presence in the market for services, to take advantage of the pressure on operators to cut costs due to fierce competition.
"This is a part of the gradual consolidation where leading network equipment makers are increasing their position in the services market," said Ilkka Rauvola, Evli Bank analyst in Helsinki.
LCC and Nokia said the deal is expected to be completed in 45 days and will affect up to 80 LCC employees, many of whom will have the opportunity to become Nokia employees.
Services represented over 30 percent of Nokia Networks revenues of 6.6 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in 2005 and the firm expects that to grow to 40 percent this year.
Last week, Nokia's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the Finnish company's interest in buying companies has increased and he has on several occasions stressed the importance of the U.S. market.
"Nokia's networks unit's market position in the United States has been weaker than elsewhere ... anything they do there is a positive step," said Nordea analyst Karri Rinta. "This is a very small, but consistent step." <<
- Eric - |
