EU tells Sony that it can buy out Ericsson

According to Reuters, the EU has given Sony the green light to buy out its joint venture partner Ericsson. The terms of the deal, announced in October, call for Sony to pay 1.05 billion EUR ($1.47 billion USD) for Ericsson's half of the company. Sony will be using its name on new phones and even displayed some at the recent CES in Las Vegas, including the much talked about Sony Xperia S. The Japanese based company previously said that it would start removing Ericsson from handsets in the middle of this year at the same time that the split becomes final.

The joint venture's last quarterly earnings was indicative of the problems that led to the split. Sony Ericsson lost 207 million EUR in Q4 ($273.38 USD) and for the year was 247 million EUR in the red ($326.21 million USD). At CES, the Sony Xperia S and Sony Xperia ion were two of the most talked about smartphone models and the pair could help Sony get off to a good start with its new life as a solo player in the industry.

source: Reuters via MobileBurn