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Finnish kit maker completes squeeze-out, now owns 100% of AlcaLu.
Nokia this week officially completed its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, after the Finnish kit maker completed its squeeze-out of minority shareholders.
Nokia now owns 100% of Alcatel-Lucent. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said it will now push on with eliminating the costs and complexity of running two separate public companies. Nokia has set a target of generating €1.2 billion of annual synergies in full-year 2018.
"While we have been operating as a combined company already since January 2016, we should take a moment to recognise the significance of today’s news," said Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia. "This acquisition was smoother than many observers thought possible, and I would like to thank all our employees and partners who made it happen."
Nokia agreed to acquire Alcatel-Lucent in April 2015 for €15.6 billion. It took control of its Franco-U.S. rival on 4 January, and commenced combined operations 10 days later. At the same time, Nokia began the process of buying out Alcatel-Lucent’s minority shareholders.
That process ended on Wednesday, capping what Nokia describes as a three-year transformation that started in 2013 with the acquisition of Siemens’ share in Nokia Siemens Networks.
"During the last three years Nokia has reinvented itself, emerging as a leader in the technologies connecting people and things with an unparalleled portfolio that better serves our traditional customers and, critically, new customers in the enterprise, Internet, utilities and transportation sectors," Suri said. "We are focused on playing a central role in a world where everyone and everything will be connected – the Programmable World."
Nokia said it will share more of its long-term plans at its capital markets day, which takes place in Barcelona on 15 November.
