Nokia Alcatel merger gets EU approval
The European Union’s antitrust regulator has given the green light to Nokia’s acquisition of French sector peer Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6bn (£11bn).
Alcatel Lucent SA Class A
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16:35 22/12/15
Nokia
1,848.50p
16:31 17/12/07
In a statement released on Friday, the European Commission, the EU’s main anti-trust authority, said the merger did not pose any concern as the companies "are not close competitors" and would continue to face "a number of strong global competitors" once the deal was completed.
Nokia, which originally announced the deal in April, said it had received anti-trust clearances in a number of countries, including the US, Canada, Russia and Brazil, adding it expects to finalise the acquisition by the first half of 2016.
The anti-trust regulator said that while the companies’ combined market share would be approximately 30%, overlaps were limited given Nokia is a major force in Europe but has limited activities in the US, while Alcatel is a smaller player in Europe with a high profile in the US.
"Samsung is expected to play a more significant role in the near future in relation to the newest-generation mobile telecommunications equipment," the regulator explained, referring to the 4G and 5G networks.