The sale of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit took another step forward earlier this week when Nokia shareholders voted in favour of the US$7.2 billion deal. Nokia said that over 99% of the votes cast were in favour of the deal.
“This is a significant step forward for Nokia. We are delighted that shareholders have given us overwhelmingly strong support to proceed with this transformative agreement,” said Nokia Board Chairman and interim CEO, Risto Siilasmaa. “Today’s vote brings us closer to completing a transaction which will mark the beginning of the next chapter in Nokia’s near 150-year history, offering the potential of greater value for shareholders,” he said.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014. Some 32,000 Nokia employees will become Microsoft ones. They will rejoin Stephen Elop who stepped down as Nokia President and CEO when the deal was announced to move back to Microsoft (from where he originally came from).
It remains be seen how Microsoft will integrate Nokia’s Asha and Lumia device lines into its own product offering. It’s not clear at this point whether the Lumia brand will even live on in the long term. Perhaps future Lumia devices will launch instead as Surface ones. We can expect those details to emerge early next year once the merger is completed.
Source : Nokia