Nokia Corporation has just won an unconditional approval by the European Union to go ahead with its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.
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The commission decided the two companies were not close enough competitors, and because a fair number of strong global competitors would remain active in the market following the transaction, there was no cause for concern.
“This foundation is essential for enabling the next wave of technological change, including the Internet of Things and transition to the cloud”, Nokia had said while announcing the deal in April. (0763.HK) of China and Samsung Electronics (005930.SE) of South Korea, the EU said.
The Commission said the overlap between the two is very limited with Nokia being a major player in Europe while Alcatel-Lucent is a much bigger player in North America.
Nokia confirmed today that the merger has also been cleared by antitrust authorities in Albania, Canada, Colombia and Russian Federation, following earlier approval in Brazil and Serbia. It added that with industry leader Ericsson still in operation alongside Asian rivals Samsung, Huawei, and ZTE, there remains a competitive market for telecoms equipment.
“In particular, Samsung is expected to play a more significant role in the near future in relation to the newest generation mobile telecommunications equipment – so-called 4G, now being deployed, and 5G”, the commission said.
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The EU opened its investigation in mid-June.
