Microsoft has confirmed the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services division will be completed on April 25. Announced late last year, the deal is a month behind schedule, following some last minute, extended regulatory checks carried out by Chinese authorities. With the end in sight, Microsoft has written a blog post about some final alterations to the original plan.
Updated on 04-29-2014 by Andy: As expected, the sale of Nokia’s Devices and Services business to Microsoft went through on April 25. The final price is listed as 5.44 billion euros. Stephen Elop, former CEO, along with the following members of the executive team, Jo Harlow, Chris Weber, Juha Putkiranta, and Timo Toikkanen, will transfer over to Microsoft.
While Nokia’s Korean manufacturing plant was going to transfer to Microsoft, this will no longer happen. Nokia says the change is due to “excess capacity” on Microsoft’s part. Nokia currently employs around 200 people at the plant, which is dedicated to building phones, something which Nokia won’t be doing for some time. Sadly, following the completion of the deal, Nokia has confirmed it will be closing the factory, but it will be offering assistance to the employees there.
Initially, Nokia clung on to its Chief Technology Office, also known as CTO, where it carries out research into future technologies. However, its Chinese branch – which works on phone tech – will now become part of the Microsoft family. The 21 employees will continue their work, but will answer to Microsoft instead. This is an interesting change, and shows Microsoft is not only serious about phone innovation, but also about investing in the Chinese market.
Finally, it has been agreed that Microsoft will manage the nokia.com website, and all Nokia’s existing social media accounts, for the coming year. According to the Financial Times, once the year is up, Nokia will take back control of its own domain name to “maintain its brand in the future.”
The deal’s closure comes shortly after a letter from Nokia to its suppliers was leaked, supposedly informing them the Nokia name – when related to phones – would change to Microsoft Mobile. This hasn’t been confirmed by either company yet, but could come on or around April 25, once the signatures have dried.
