The boards of Eltek ASA and Nera ASA have agreed to merge, creating a Norwegian telecom giant, the companies announced. The combined company will have leading positions in transmission, telecom power supply and mobile satellite communications under Nera Satcom.

Morten Angelil, CEO of Eltek, will lead the new company. “Nera has a strong product portfolio and impressive engineering capabilities,” he said. “The joint company will have an outstanding market presence and a combined product portfolio which I believe will create opportunities for growth and profitability.”

Each Nera shareholder will get one Eltek share in exchange for 5.75 shares in Nera. Eltek shareholders will hold about 60 percent of the new company, with Nera owners holding the remaining 40 percent. The two companies had combined revenue of more than 4.7 billion kroner ($764.8 million) in 2005.

“There is basically no overlap in the two companies’ product offerings and large potential opportunities in the customer base within transmission and telecom power supply,” Bjorn Olafsson, CEO of Nera, said in a statement. “We believe that a joint company can be a sustainable player in the global telecom equipment markets.”