Cevian Capital buys more than 5% of Sweden’s Ericsson

Stockholm: Activist investor Cevian Capital has bought a more than 5 per cent stake in Sweden’s Ericsson and said it sees significant potential in the struggling mobile telecom equipment maker. Ericsson shares have fallen close to 40 per cent in the past two years as the firm has been hit by a drop in spending by telecoms firms — with demand for next-generation 5G technology still years away — and weak emerging markets. The firm, which reported an operating loss of 12.3 billion crowns ($1.41 billion, Dh5 billion) in the first quarter, also faces mounting competition from China’s Huawei and Finland’s Nokia.