Struggling Marconi has agreed to sell off the bulk of its assets to rival Ericsson in a deal valued at £1.2 billion.

Under the deal, around 50 per cent of the company's staff at its Coventry base will be taken on by the Swedish giant, Marconi said.

The remainder would be retained within the business not acquired by Ericsson in a services operation to be renamed Telent.

He said a rolling redundancy programme targeting around 450 people in Coventry would continue, although a large percentage of the jobs had already gone. The spokesman said around 2,000 people now work at the Coventry site - a figure disputed by the union Amicus, which puts the total closer to 1,200.

Ericsson said it was too soon to talk about its plans for the Midlands operation.

The Swedish firm will take on the Marconi trademark as well as a range of equipmentbased operations, leaving the remainder of the UK company as a services provider to telecoms companies.

The deal includes an initial contribution of £185 million to ensure the rights of 69,000 members of Marconi's UK pension plan are protected.

Marconi employs around 9,000 people worldwide, with 2,000 staff in the UK set to be retained as part of the Telent operation.

Marconi effectively put itself up for sale in May after it missed out on a contract from BT - its biggest customer - for the £10 billion upgrade of its network.

The failure to land any work highlighted the difficulties Marconi faced in competing with bigger rivals such as Ericsson and Chinese firm Huawei.

Chairman John Devaney said: "In Ericsson, we have found a partner that has the scale and global reach to take our equipment business forward in a way that we would not have been able to do alone."

The proposals are dependent on the approval of Marconi shareholders at a meeting due to take place in the middle of December.

They will share around £577 million from the sale of assets.

The deal will see 6,671 employees transfer to Ericsson.

Marconi currently employs around 4,000 people in the UK, with sites including those at Coventry, Liverpool and Basildon in Essex.

Ericsson chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said today's tie-up made " compelling strategic logic".

He added: "As fixed and mobile services converge, our customers will substantially benefit from this powerful combination. "Both companies have a rich history of innovation that has brought many of the technologies to market that are commonplace in our lives today. We look forward to welcoming so many of Marconi's talented employees to Ericsson."

The deal, which is due to complete early next year, involves around 75 per cent of Marconi's assets but equally splits the company's 4,000-strong UK workforce.

The services arm being retained as Telent will utilise staff at Coventry, as well as Basildon and Chorley.

Staff transferring to Ericsson include the remainder of workers at Coventry, plus employees at Beeston, near Nottingham, Liverpool and Chorley.

Ericsson said job cuts were "unavoidable" with up to 1,000 positions at risk across operations worldwide.

Peter Skyte, national officer at Amicus, said: "The takeover by Ericsson, a world class company with a reputation as a strong investor in research and development and corporate responsibility, will come as some relief to beleaguered Marconi workers.

"Whilst 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."

He 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.

"It's the end of an era though for a once great company."

Ericsson said the deal provided it with Marconi's broadband access technology as well as its longstanding relationships with operators, which it hopes will add to its own strength in the area of fixed-line technology.

Guglielmo Marconi at Signal Hill, St John's, Newfoundland, December 1901 after the first transatlantic wireless transmission had been received. The signal was sent from Poldhu, Cornwall