Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) has revealed that it now expects the landmark deal with the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to be concluded in April this year. Earlier there were expectations that the deal would be closed, in the first quarter ending March. At the time of the announcement of the deal on September 3, 2013, Nokia expressed expectations to close the deal in the first quarter of 2014.
Over the deal, Nokia informed ““[T]he transaction is pending approvals from certain antitrust authorities in Asia which are still conducting their reviews.”
Still awaiting some approval
Considering the size of the Nokia- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) deal, which is worth $7.2 billion, it has been scanned by most of the regulatory authorities. Recently, in an update on the deal, Microsoft published a blog post saying the deal is “nearing the final stages of our global regulatory approval process,” and added “To date we have received approvals from regulatory authorities in 15 markets on five continents. Currently we are awaiting approval confirmation in the final markets.” The deal has already received the approval of the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Failure of the companies to conclude the deal in time would have a ripple down effects. Because of the delay, analysts would now have to update the models to reflect the delay of the acquisition by Microsoft. Also, the delay would force Stephen Elop to wait before assuming his new role. Elop will head the Devices and Studios Engineering group at Microsoft. Also, Nokia’s big pay day is now a non-first quarter affair.
No delay due to tax claims in India
There have also been speculations that the ongoing tax proceedings in India might have delayed the deal between Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). However, Nokia cleared “that ongoing tax proceedings in India have no bearing on the timing of the closing or the material deal terms of the anticipated transaction between Nokia and Microsoft.”
Last week, Nokia was handed a new $414 million tax claim by the Indian authorities. The new claim follows a recent Supreme Court order directing Nokia to provide $571 million guarantee before moving its Chennai factory to Microsoft.
