Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s devices business for $7.17 billion

All articles Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s devices business for $7.17 billion ————————— Microsoft announced Monday night that it will purchase Nokia’s devices business in a deal that will bring the Lumia smartphone line—along with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop—under the Microsoft umbrella. The deal has been valued at 5.44 million euro ($7.17 billion), wth 1.65 billion euro of that going to license Nokia’s patents. Microsoft will also provide Nokia an additional 1.5 million euro ($1.98 billion) in convertible notes that Nokia can exercise. Microsoft isn’t buying Nokia as a whole, as the Nokia Siemens Networks enterprise business, Nokia’s HERE brand, the office of the CTO, and Nokia’s patent portfolio are not direct components of the deal. The synergies of the aquisition are obvious. Elop led the Microsoft Business Division until 2010, at which point he became Nokia’s chief executive, forging deep ties with Microsoft, and almost totally committing his company to the Windows Phone platform. Elop will lead “an expanded Devices business” at Microsoft, the company said, and will report directly to soon-to-be-departing CEO Steve Ballmer. Julie Larson-Green, who currently leads the Devices and Studios business (which includes the Xbox One and Surface tablets) will report to Elop after the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014. The most important piece of the puzzle is Nokia’s phone business, including the Lumia brand. Nokia sold 7.4 million Lumia phones in the second quarter of 2013, and 53.7 million units overall. For now, Microsoft said that it would license the Nokia brand and use it with current Nokia phone products. Lumia, presumably, will fall under the Microsoft brand name. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048023/microsoft-to-acquire-nokias-devices-business-for-7-17-billion.html#tk.rss_all ————————— 2013-09-03 06:42:00 Dark RSS Reader www.darkrss.ch