Nokia investors approve Alcatel deal
COMPANY HOPES ALCATEL-LUCENT UNION WILL HELP PUT IT AT THE TOP FOR NETWORK EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES
One final step remained for the Finnish telecom group Nokia before sealing the union with its French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent, as Nokia’s shareholders gave their consent on Wednesday.
They approved the transaction at an extraordinary general meeting in Helsinki, and Nokia expects to close the deal in early 2016.
Nokia’s chief executive Rajeev Suri said that the company was now looking forward to taking the final step in the process to create the world’s number one networks giant.
“Now it’s only a matter of getting the successful tender offer,” relieved Suri said, referring to Nokia’s public exchange offer for Alcatel-Lucent’s shareowners to tender their stakes.
Nokia can proceed with the transaction as soon as it controls over 50 per cent of Alcatel-Lucent’s shares, which it expects to happen in early January. “I feel quite confident because as we have seen we have broad shareholder support, support from costumiers, regulators, government and so on. There’s broad support overall for the deal,” Suri assured.
He said Alcatel-Lucent’s shareholders could expect to profit from Nokia’s generous capital return policy in the future.
To reassure the company’s Finnish shareholders who were worried that the headquarters might be moved to Paris, Suri said Nokia’s “will continue to have Finland deep in our DNA.”
No restructuring
Employees both in Finland and in France have feared massive job cuts to be ahead after Nokia announced it expected to find €900 million synergies in combining the two companies. While Suri said he couldn’t “guarantee that there will be no restructuring,” he also assured he would be a good boss for his old and new employees.
“I like to take companies to the next level ... That’s what we’ve tried to do with Nokia Siemens networks in the past which was on the brink of survival few years ago,” he said.
Once the world’s top mobile phone maker, Nokia hopes the merger will help it become the world’s number one network equipment and service provider, with a combined revenue of nearly €25 billion ($26.5 billion).
“While our portfolios are highly complementary, our cultures have many similarities,” Suri told shareholders.
Nokia had obtained all necessary regulatory approvals for the deal last month, mainly from the United States, France and China.
“The strategic logic remains as compelling today as on the day when we announced the transaction,” said Suri.