Finnish LeadDesk is acquiring the contact center platform ACE from Swedish Telia. LeadDesk is paying 25 million Swedish krona, with an earn-out of up to 30 million krona. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2026.

 

LeadDesk, a European provider of cloud-based contact center solutions (CCaaS), has reached an agreement with Telia to acquire ACE for approximately 2,3 million euros. According to Telia, the ACE platform is used by more than 100.000 users in both the private and public sectors in the Nordics. Approximately 90 employees will transfer from Telia to LeadDesk as part of the transaction. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Deinvestment at Telia

For telecom company Telia, the sale fits into the strategy to simplify operations and focus on core activities. LeadDesk says it will continue to develop ACE with new features and improvements, and positions the acquisition as strengthening its position in the Nordics. It is not LeadDesk's first acquisition in the region: in late 2024, the company acquired the Norwegian Zisson, followed in early 2026 by Fluentic.

Notably, the roles following the acquisition are not strictly defined. Telia has entered into a strategic partnership with LeadDesk via a long-term commercial agreement. Telia continues to offer ACE as part of its B2B portfolio and retains the customer relationship and full responsibility for both existing and new customers. Telia also continues to hold in-house expertise to sell, deliver, and support ACE solutions, including integrations with third-party systems. Both platforms are included in the comprehensive market overview. CCaaS made in Europe from Ziptone.

European consolidation

LeadDesk was founded in 2010, has approximately 200 employees, and operates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and France. LeadDesk positions itself as “The European Alternative” in CCaaS and claims to have a good understanding of the needs of European companies regarding data sovereignty, GDPR compliance, and multilingual support. The company focuses on multiple sectors, including finance, healthcare, utilities, e-commerce, media, telecom operators, the public sector, and BPOs. LeadDesk's clients include Spangenberg Groep, Eckerö Line, Sportsklubben Brann, Nordisk Film Biografer, and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank. LeadDesk had a revenue of approximately 35 million euros in 2024.

The Swedish company Telia was founded in 1853 and currently has around 19.000 employees. The company offers mobile and fixed telephony, internet, IT solutions, and media, and has a turnover of approximately 8 billion euros. Telia is also a reseller of Genesys CCaaS technology, in addition to developing the Telia ACE product. Until now, Telia has delivered ACE in a European sovereign cloud. Telia ACE's customers include Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish employment agency), Region Skåne, Region Uppsala, Region Värmland, Bankgirot, PayEx / SwedbankPay, Preem, E.ON, HSL, the Municipality of Vantaa, the Municipality of Helsinki, Kymsote, Norlys, LB Forsikring, HK (Danish trade union), and Entur.

(LeadDesk, Ziptone)

merger/acquisition, Technology