Ericsson is looking to compete more effectively against Alcatel Lucent by purchasing Redback Networks is an up and coming edge router player. The rapid growth in the M&A market is unprecedented these days and it seems the insatiable appetite to build larger and larger companies will never stop.

 

Although Redback is publicly traded and could have remained a public company, many private companies need to be acquired to bring liquidity back to their investors.

 

The IPO market is getting a bit better but until Sox regulations get less onerous, it may be a while before smaller companies look to the public markets as an alternative M&A.