Nokia announced today that the European Commission has approved its pending acquisition of French network equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent.
Europe’s regulatory agency has refrained from putting any conditions on the deal.
The approval follows previously disclosed antitrust clearances in Brazil and Serbia and the expiration of the antitrust review period in the United States. The U.S. Justice Department signed off on the deal back in mid June.
In addition, the companies also confirmed today they have received further antitrust clearances from Albania, Canada, Colombia and Russia.
The transaction remains subject to approval by Nokia shareholders and is expected to close in the first half of 2016.
Nokia has made an offer for all of the equity securities issued by Alcatel-Lucent, through a public exchange offer in France and in the United States, on the basis of 0.55 of a new Nokia share for every Alcatel-Lucent share. The deal values Alcatel-Lucent at $16.6 billion.
A merger of Nokia and ALU 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: Industry regulations + certifications