Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia to close some time in April, delayed because of Asian regulators

All signs show that Microsoft's purchase of Nokia won't be finalized until April. The Redmond-based software giant has already received approval for the deal from the regulatory institutions in 15 markets worldwide, including the European Commission and the U.S. DoJ. However, some additional anti-thrust regulators in Asia need to give the acquisition a go-ahead signal.

This information was disclosed by Brad Smith, the General Counsel and Executive VP with Microsoft. In his words, the Redmond giant is “as excited as ever to welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business officially as part of the Microsoft family”. He expects the cumbersome process of approving the merger to be finalized some time in April. Brad Smith also says that the takeover will further stimulate Microsoft's “mobile-first, cloud-first imperatives”.

Yesterday we told you that Taiwan was among the first Asian countries to approve the Microsoft-Nokia deal. However, this particular approval comes with a twist – Nokia's standard-essential patents have to be licensed under FRAND conditions and the Finnish manufacturer can't raise the licensing fees for its already-granted patents any further.

source: Microsoft, Nokia via Pocket-lint