The long drawn affair of Nokia’s sale to Microsoft will finally come to a close on 25th April. Having received the go ahead from all regulatory bodies, the company today announced that the transaction will finally be completed on 25th April when Nokia Oy will be rebranded as Microsoft Mobile Oyj. The acquisition is meant to help Microsoft have a stronger foothold in the mobile space and to help push adoption of Windows Phone running devices. As is evident, it is also a push towards using Microsoft services which was also seen on the Android based Nokia X. The original terms and conditions of the sale have been adjusted in the months that followed the announcement. Microsoft is paying 5.4 Billion Euros in cash to Nokia with the split being 3.79 Billion for devices and services while 1.65 Billion make up for their patents. 32,000 Nokia employees will be transitioned to Microsoft including 4,700 in Finland and 18,300 employed in manufacturing positions worldwide. In addition to this, 21 employees based in China will also be working with Microsoft. Microsoft will no longer be acquiring Nokia’s Korean manufacturing facility but will manage the nokia.com domain and social media sites for up to a year going ahead. Needless to say that this marks the end of an era but also demonstrates that the lack of innovation and being too slow to the market can bring down even the biggest of companies.
[Via – Technet]