US Department of Justice says yes to Nokia purchase of Alcatel-Lucent
Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have announced today that the US Department of Justice has granted early termination of the US antitrust waiting period for the combination of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, permitting the transaction to proceed.
Early termination of the US antitrust waiting period takes the pair one step closer to the closing of the pending transaction, which was announced on 15 April this year.
Nokia is buying Alcatel-Lucent for Euro 15.6 billion (£11.2 billion). The combined businesses will create a European telecoms equipment firm worth around £29 billion (Euro 40 billion), set to challenge current market leader in telecoms equipment provision, Ericsson.
The parties stated they are continuing to make good progress with the regulatory approval processes in the remaining relevant jurisdictions, with the parties having already obtained antitrust clearances in Brazil and Serbia.
Both companies will continue to cooperate with the remaining authorities to close their reviews as quickly as possible.
The transaction remains subject to approval by Nokia shareholders, Nokia holding over 50% of the share capital of Alcatel-Lucent on a fully diluted basis upon completion of the public exchange offer, receipt of other regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2016.
