Sony rumored to be negotiating Sony Ericsson buy-out

Times are tough. For corporations, tough times usually leads to a few employee layoffs and asset fire sales. In this particular case, we’re hearing that Sony Ericsson may soon be a wholly-owned arm of Sony. Word on the street has Sony positioning itself to buy Ericsson’s 50% stake in the mobile phone joint-venture known as Sony Ericsson. If true, the once Japanese-Swedish joint venture would cease to be a joint venture and would turn Sony Ericsson into a Japanese-owned mobile phone maker.

German-language site Manager-Magazin reports that Sony is working to secure the funds it would need to finance the buyout. Sony would need to pay Ericsson enough to convince them to let go of their 50% stake in Sony Ericsson. Interestingly, Denmark’s Danske Bank believes that Ericsson would net very little cash from the deal. In fact, the deal could end up costing Ericsson if the timing doesn’t go down just right.

It seems Sony Ericsson’s push to combine Sony’s gadget-prowess and Ericsson’s mobile network experience into a truly innovative cellphone manufacturing company hasn’t been the booming success that the twain had hoped. Brighter days are definitely ahead, however, and it’s just a matter of time before the smartphone market can help pull the rest of the mobile space out of its slump and bring Sony Ericsson with it.

[Via: MobileBurn]