Nokia on Monday announced that its bid to buy Alcatel-Lucent has received approval from China’s regulators.
The clearance in China completes the material antitrust review process required for the transaction.
In a statement, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent said they will continue to cooperate with the French government to obtain formal approval from the Ministry of Economy (MINEFI), after which Nokia will proceed with the filing of the previously announced public exchange offer for Alcatel-Lucent securities. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2016.
As part of its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia intends to create a joint venture in China with China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center (“China Huaxin”). That joint venture would combine Nokia’s infrastructure businesses in China with Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell (“ASB”). As was previously announced, Nokia has agreed to hold 50 percent plus one share in the new joint venture, which would operate under the English name Nokia Shanghai Bell.
Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri said in a statement that he was pleased with the approval and looks forward to working with China going forward.
“Through Nokia Shanghai Bell, we look forward to maintaining our deep commitment to China and playing a key role in the country’s shift towards an innovation-driven economy,” Suri said.
Nokia in April made an offer to buy Alcatel-Lucent in a deal that values the French telcommunications equipment vendor at $16.6 billion.
The merger of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent will create a company with combined revenues of approximately $27.6 billion last year. That will put the new company on par with Swedish telecoms equipment giant Ericsson, which reported full-year 2014 revenues of approximately $26.7 billion.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
