Back in September 2013, Microsoft announced plans to purchase Nokia's devices and services business, in a deal worth almost $7.2bn. Earlier this month, Chinese authorities gave their approval for the deal, and today, the company confirmed that the purchase will be completed later this week.
In a post on The Official Microsoft Blog, the company's Brad Smith revealed that the deal will be finalized this Friday, April 25th. He said that the deal "will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones", adding that the company looks forward "to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones."
As part of the deal, Microsoft will acquire not just Nokia's Lumia range of Windows Phones, but also the Nokia X Android range, and the company's feature phone family, including its Asha line, and its most inexpensive and basic devices, such as the $29 Nokia 108 camera phone.
Additionally, Microsoft will take control of the nokia.com domain and related social media sites "for the benefit of both companies and our customers for up to a year." Nokia will not be relinquishing the rights to its brand, however, and will continue to operate under that name. The parts of the business that are being transferred to Microsoft's ownership will operate as a Finnish subsidiary called Microsoft Mobile Oy.
A couple of changes have also been made to the original terms of the deal. 21 Nokia staff in China working on feature phone development will now join Microsoft under the new terms, while plans for the company to acquire a Nokia factory in Korea have now been abandoned.
Image via GeekWire
This article was updated after publishing to add details regarding the Nokia and Microsoft Mobile names, and to add a reference to the Nokia X range.
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