Microsoft and Nokia postponed closing the deal until April

The sale of Nokia’s mobile division to Microsoft will not be closed this month, The Verge reports . A deal worth $ 7.2 billion was announced in September, and it was planned that it would be closed by the end of March, but now the companies expect to complete the sale of the unit by the end of April.

The reason for the postponement is that the companies are still awaiting the approval of the Asian antitrust authorities, despite the fact that the deal has already received the green light from the US Department of Justice and the European Commission. After closing the deal, Microsoft will be able to start developing smartphones on Windows Phone on its own, without relying on another company.

Having sold its unprofitable mobile division, Nokia will receive more than 90% of its revenue from the telecommunications division, but the company's patent portfolio is also considered as one of the promising sources of future growth, Reuters reports . As a phone manufacturer, Nokia paid competitors to use their technology and charged for their own. According to analysts, getting rid of the mobile unit, Nokia will be able to freely raise royalties for using their technology.
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In early March, it was reported that Google and Samsung appealed to Chinese regulators to ensure that the deal between Microsoft and Nokia did not lead to an increase in licensing fees. “(Pointer) is a bad sign. They have been negotiating with the authorities for quite a long time, and they still need time, ”says Samde Sarkamies, an analyst at Nordea Markets.

At the same time, Nokia noted in its statement that the investigation being conducted against the company in India is not related to the deferment. It became known last week that Indian authorities presented Nokia with tax claims of $ 414 million, preceded by a Supreme Court decision obliging Nokia to provide $ 571 million as a guarantee before transferring Nokia to Chennai to Microsoft.