Microsoft GC and executive VP of legal & corporate affairs Brad Smith announced that the company will acquire Nokia April 25 in a deal valued at 5.4 billion euros ($7.5 billion) and Nokia will be named Microsoft mobile. Smith said he expects hs company to add one billion customers in the deal.
Microsoft will manage online assets including nokia.com and social media for up to a year while Nokia will ‘help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones.’
But the deal might not included Nokia’s 8,000-employee phone plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu because of an ongoing tax dispute between the Finnish company and Indian tax authorities.
The Indian tax department alleges that the Finnish company has wrongfully claimed tax exemptions on software exports. Nokia, meanwhile, disputes the claim.
Excluding the factory from the transaction won’t affect the commercial terms of Nokia’s deal with Microsoft, according to the WSJ. If the Indian plant is included, approximately 32,000 Nokia employees are slated to be transferred to Microsoft.
