HINDSIGHT - as they say - is a wonderful thing. No doubt the management of once-mighty telecoms equipment supplier Marconi would agree with that sentiment.

The news that the iconic British firm has been forced to sell its soul to venerable Swedish rival Ericsson, the world's biggest maker of mobile network equipment, is the latest in a long line of problems that have affected the business in recent years.

A decade ago, Marconi - formerly known as the General Electric Company, or GEC for short - was riding high as one of the biggest players in its sector, boasting a stock market value in excess of £35 billion at its peak in the late 1990s.

With the bulk of the business off-loaded for a mere £1.2bn, the question on many experts' lips is: what now for Marconi and its 9000-strong global workforce?

Ericsson says the deal to buy assets representing three-quarters of Marconi's turnover will help it supply the world's big telecoms operators looking for ways to deliver broadband internet and services to subscribers in the home, office or on the move.

What remains of Marconi - under the name of Telent and leaving the former conglomerate a shadow of its former self - will be a small services business with sales of about £350 million.

"The acquisition of the Marconi businesses has a compelling strategic logic and is a robust financial case," assures Ericsson chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg.

"Buying Marconi's assets, Ericsson complements its product portfolio in areas which will be of a very strategic importance for mobile operators and for convergent network operators," he says.

Marconi chief executive Mike Parton has assured that job cuts in the remainder of the group's business will be in the "tens". Telent is expected to have some 2000 employees after the deal.

But unions are more concerned. Peter Skyte, national officer at Amicus, says: "We will be seeking early meetings with Ericsson and Marconi to seek assurances on job security, retention of skills and research and development in the UK, and on terms and conditions including pension provision."

The straw that appears to have broken the camel's back came earlier this year when BT passed Marconi over for a share of a £10bn contract. The failure to land any work highlighted the difficulties Marconi faced in competing with bigger rivals such as Ericsson and Chinese upstart Huawei.

Ironically, a month before this - in April - the UK telecoms equipment group had generated its first profit in three years. And the network equipment side of the Marconi business generated turnover of £700m in the year to the end of March.

Mr Skyte adds: "While it marks the end of an era for the Marconi brand and name, we hope it also marks the end of monumental mismanagement, excessive corporate greed and catastrophic job losses.

"The upgrade to broadband will lead to a massive increase in data traffic. As a consequence, transmission capacity in telecoms networks will have to be dramatically increased," it says.

But what about the Marconi brand, a name synonymous with radio and telecoms for more than a century? While Ericsson has not ruled out completely ways of incorporating it, the Swedish firms adds that it is "too early" to discuss any concrete plans.

There is also the problem of Marconi's UK pension fund for the existing workers and for the pensioners relying on it for their income in retirement. But Telent is to retain responsibility to make sure the entitlements of the 69,000 members are looked after. A lump sum of £185m is to be injected once the deal goes through, while a further £490m will be held in an account for future liabilities.

Marconi chairman John Devaney confirms: "The proposed Ericsson transaction also enables us to take steps towards resolving our UK pension plan issue while protecting the benefits of the 69,000 members of our plan."

The takeover of the lion's share of London-based Marconi - which also has operations in Nottingham, Liverpool and Chorley - by Ericsson marks the end of a business founded by Italian radio visionary Guglielmo Marconi and follows a stock plunge that wiped out half its value during one week in April.

Arnold Weinstock, one of Britain's most respected industrialists, led GEC from 1963, building the group up over three decades, outlasting nine governments and surviving six recessions.

Under pressure from investors who wanted a more audacious strategy, Mr Weinstock stepped down as chief executive in 1996 and was replaced by George Simpson, a Scottish accountant and veteran car industry manager.

The group sold off its defence assets and changed its name to Marconi as it attempted to become a major player in the telecoms market. Unfortunately, the transformation, which saw the firm borrowing heavily to fund its acquisition spree, came just as the telecoms bubble burst, leaving it nursing heavy debts and overvalued assets.

The firm was subsequently forced into a debt-for-equity swap - asking its banks to accept shares because it could not repay its bills - which left existing shareholders with just 0.5 per cent of the company. Thousands of job losses merely added to the pain.

Then came the news that Marconi was dreading as it missed out on a share of that bumper BT contract. The snub led the market to conclude that Marconi would find it even tougher to win business from other telecoms carriers, and its revenues from BT were, in any case, on the slide.

Investors dumped the stock and Marconi lost over half its market capitalisation in just two trading sessions - once again being forced to take the knife to costs after shedding thousands of jobs only a few years before.

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