Nokia Shareholders to Approve Microsoft Deal
Nokia’s shareholders have done what everyone expected them to do, approving the sale of the Finnish company’s devices and services business to Microsoft.
At a general meeting in Helsinki Tuesday morning, the gathered investors rubber-stamped the $7.35 billion deal, which will see Microsoft acquire Nokia’s devices and services business and license the company’s mapping services, a move that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer characterizes as “a bold step into the future.”
According to the AFP, the deal was almost unanimously approved ahead of today’s meeting, with some 99.7 percent of shareholders who registered voting in favor of it.
The green light from Nokia’s investors marks the end of an era for the company. Once the world’s largest manufacturer of cellphones, Nokia will now evolve into a telecom equipment and services firm.
RELATED POSTS:
- Microsoft CEO Promises to Limit Nokia Phone Names to 10 Syllables or Less
- Samsung, HTC Mum on Any Interest in Windows Phone Post-Nokia
- Elop in July: It’s “Hard to Understand the Rationale” for Selling Nokia’s Devices Business
- Microsoft Is Getting Nokia’s Phone Business for a Song
- Nokia Shares Rise, Microsoft Falls in Reaction to Deal
- So Much for BlackBerry’s “Clear Shot” at Being No. 3 in the Smartphone Market
- Selling Nokia Was Hard Emotionally, But Right Thing to Do, Says Interim CEO
- Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia’s Top Designer, To Leave Company in November
- Steve Ballmer on Why Buying Microsoft’s Biggest Phone Partner Makes Sense
- Nokia Interim CEO: We Have Three Strong Businesses Remaining
- Barcelona Rendezvous, 50 Nokia Board Meetings Led to Microsoft Deal
- Microsoft’s Nokia Deal By The Numbers
- Microsoft Confirms It Gets Less Than $10 Per Nokia Windows Phone Sold
- Stephen Elop Is Now Microsoft CEO Candidate to Beat
- Microsoft Wants to Keep Licensing Windows Phone to Others, Post-Nokia Deal
- Microsoft Explains the Rationale Behind the Nokia Deal
- Microsoft to Buy Nokia’s Device Business in Deal Worth $7.17 Billion