Microsoft to take over Nokia’s handset business this week
MICROSOFT has finalised the deal to buy Nokia’s devices and services business after months of fine-tuning on the acquisition.
The US computing giant is paying €5.4bn (£4.4bn) for the troubled phone firm’s handset arm, in a deal first announced in September 2013.
The deal will complete this Friday, 25 April.
Microsoft hopes it will help its own smartphone business really take off after struggling to gain market share against Apple and Android competitors.
“This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones,” wrote the firm’s general counsel Brad Smith on the company’s website.
The deal has also been tweaked since its initial announcement.
Under the final plan, Microsoft will managed the nokia.com website and both firms’ social media pages. And the original plan for Microsoft to take over Nokia’s Korean manufacturing site has been cancelled.