Well, it’s official. Microsoft announced on Friday (as expected) that it has completed its acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business. It’s been approved by shareholders, and all the government regulatory bodies.
Microsoft can now go forward full-throttle with its plans for the buy.
CEO Satya Nadella said, “Today we welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business to our family. The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation. Together with our partners, we remain focused on delivering innovation more rapidly in our mobile-first, cloud-first world.”
Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will now report directly to Nadella, and will serve as executive vice president of the Microsoft Devices Group. He will oversee the business, which includes Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Surface, Perceptive Pixel (PPI) products, and accessories.
The company is also getting experienced personnel in over 130 locations in 50 countries, including at factories.
“Nokia certainly has a tremendous depth of experience in the design, the manufacturing and delivery of devices,” Elop said. “Nokia over the years has literally delivered billions of devices. Just in the last year alone, some hundreds of millions.”
The two companies have been partners for over two years, building Windows Phone-based devices, so it’s not as if they’re going to have to face any major obstacles in building and working together.
Pictured: Nadella (left) and Elop (right)
In its announcement, Microsoft says:
Microsoft will continue to deliver new value and opportunity, and it will work closely with a range of hardware partners, developers, operators, distributors and retailers, providing platforms, tools, applications and services that enable them to make exceptional devices. With a deeper understanding of hardware and software working as one, the company will strengthen and grow demand for Windows devices overall.
As with any multinational agreement of this size, scale and complexity, Microsoft and Nokia have made adjustments to the deal throughout the close preparation process. As announced previously, Microsoft will not acquire the factory in Masan, South Korea, and the factory in Chennai, India, will stay with Nokia due to the tax liens on Nokia’s assets in India that prevent transfer. As a result, Microsoft will welcome approximately 25,000 transferring employees from around the world.
Microsoft notes the obvious in that the acquisition will allow it to accelerate its share of smartphones and feature phones, and certainly does so instantly.
“The opportunity for Microsoft to be both a devices and services company, so that it can deliver the complete proposition to its consumers, is at the heart of this,” Elop said.
Microsoft reminds Nokia customers that it will honor all existing warranties.
Image via Microsoft
