Steve Ballmer may be gone, but his legacy at Microsoft will likely be remembered for some time after the Windows maker announced plans to gobble up Nokia. The deal, months in the making, will finally wrap this week.
Nokia Corporation has announced that the keys to its Devices & Services kingdom will officially be handed to Microsoft on Friday, April 25, just shy of seven months after the two companies confirmed months of rumors about a possible sale.
Nokia noted "the transaction is now subject only to certain customary closing conditions," but the tentative tone of the exceptionally brief press release appears to be strictly a legal formality.
Microsoft and Nokia announced the €3.79 billion ($5.2b, £3.11b, AU$5.6b) acquisition on September 3, 2013, and the deal quickly breezed through regulatory approval last December in both the US and Europe.
Now what?
Neither company has been very open about what they plan to do once the deal is wrapped up, although former Nokia Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop will be heading up Redmond's own devices division after receiving a controversially big payday for his services there.
Microsoft General Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs Brad Smith also announced in a blog post that his company will manage Nokia's website and social media sites "for up to a year," presumably to make the transition easier for customers.
"We look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones," Smith added, curious wording considering suppliers and end users were notified last week that "Nokia Oyj" will be rebranded "Microsoft Mobile Oy" and operate as a Finland-based subsidiary of Microsoft.
Nokia retains a vast patent portfolio and will continue to own and operate its HERE mapping platform (which Microsoft will license for the next four years), and is expected to turn its attention to the company's less consumer-focused Solutions and Networks businesses.
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