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There were just speculations yesterday and today Nokia has officially announced that it plans to go ahead with the purchase of Alcatel-Lucent.
Nokia will pay $16.6 billion in share for takeover Alcatel-Lucent, a rival telecom equipment manufacturer. The merger will be complete by first half of next year.
In a statement, Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes said “This transaction comes at the right time to strengthen the European technology industry. We believe our customers will benefit from our improved innovation capability and incomparable R&D engine under the Bell Labs brand. The global scale and footprint of the new company will reinforce its presence in the United States and China.”
Once merged, the company will take on the Nokia name, while Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa and CEO Rajeev Suri will hold on to those roles. Three employees from Alcatel-Lucent will serve on the new company’s board, including the role of vice chairman.
Nokia did release a PR detailing the complete details of the merger and how it will benefit both parties.
Nokia Corporation
Stock Exchange Release
April 15, 2015 at 08:00 (CET +1)NOKIA AND ALCATEL-LUCENT TO COMBINE TO CREATE AN INNOVATION LEADER IN NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES FOR AN IP CONNECTED WORLD
Helsinki & Paris, April 15, 2015 – Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent announce today their intention to combine to create an innovation leader in next generation technology and services for an IP connected world. The two companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding under which Nokia will make an offer for all of the equity securities issued by Alcatel-Lucent, through a public exchange offer in France and in the United States, on the basis of 0.55 of a new Nokia share for every Alcatel-Lucent share. The all-share transaction values Alcatel-Lucent at EUR 15.6 billion on a fully diluted basis, corresponding to a fully diluted premium of 34% (equivalent to EUR 4.48 per share), and a premium to shareholders of 28% (equivalent to EUR 4.27 per share) (see Appendix 1), on the unaffected weighted average share price of Alcatel-Lucent for the previous three months. This is based on Nokia’s unaffected closing share price of EUR 7.77 on April 13, 2015.
Each company’s Board of Directors has approved the terms of the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2016. The proposed transaction is subject to approval by Nokia’s shareholders, completion of relevant works council consultations, receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
