Nokia shareholders approve Alcatel-Lucent takeover

Shareholders in Nokia ‘overwhelmingly’ supported the proposed acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent at an EGM and the completion is now a formality of meeting minimum acceptance or tender conditions.

The vote of confidence follows an unexpectedly early regulatory approval and the launch of the French and US public exchange offers for Alcatel-Lucent securities. The planned transaction is expected to complete by April 2016 now and Nokia only needs to meet minimum tender conditions or acceptance thresholds, it said.

Yesterday’s EGM in Espoo Finland also resolved to effect the planned Nokia-Alcatel-Lucent combination by authorising Nokia’s board of directors to issue a maximum of 2,100 million shares in one or more issues during the effective period of the authorization. There was near unanimity among shareholders with 99.49% of the votes represented at the EGM in favour of the proposal.

“By ratifying the transaction in such great numbers, they have endorsed our belief that the combined company will be better positioned to compete,” said Risto Siilasmaa, Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors.

Nokia Corporation CEO Rajeev Suri said he would encourage Alcatel-Lucent shareholders and convertible bondholders to help realize this potential by tendering their securities into the public exchange offer. “By doing so, they would create a new leader in next generation technology and services for an IP connected world,” said Suri.

In addition Nokia also announced that it expects the sale of HERE to complete tomorrow. Nokia accepted a bid from a consortium of German car makers back in August of this year as the process of focusing solely on networks continued, and had previously expected the deal to close in early 2016.

Further encouraging news emerged from Brazil, where Nokia Networks has clinched a three year deal to supply equipment for mobile operator TIM Brasil’s roll out of 3G and 4G networks.

The contract covers radio access equipment, Nokia Flexi Zone and Flexi Lite small cells and services as the São Paulo-based Telecom Italia Mobile subsidiary seeks to improve network quality in 17 states.

Among the equipment list that Nokia will ship and install will be a Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station for 3G and 4G technologies, Flexi Lite Base Stations and Flexi Zone Small Cells. To support the installation Nokia Networks will offer network planning, installation and optimization services and customer care.