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Finnish vendor reopens public exchange offer for outstanding Alcatel-Lucent shares.
Nokia on Thursday marked the first day of combined operations with Alcatel-Lucent by talking up the strength and breadth of its product portfolio.
The Finland-based vendor, which officially took control of its Franco-U.S. rival on 4 January, now has five divisions that between them cover fixed, mobile, optical/IP networking, analytics and applications, and patents.
"Combining with Alcatel-Lucent comes at just the right time: we can align our product and technology roadmaps for the next generation of network technology at the outset, allowing us to take full advantage of the coming opportunities and better serve customers including communication service providers, governments, Internet players and large enterprises," said Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri, in a statement.
Nokia also talked up its R&D credentials, noting that 40,000 of its now 104,000-strong workforce are engaged in R&D. Combined pro forma R&D spend in 2014 was €4.2 billion, Nokia said, adding that the companies together boast 31,000 patent families.
On a financial basis, the combined company would have generated pro forma revenues of €24.7 billion in 2014, and an operating profit of €2.3 billion.
Nokia also gave a potted history that included the buyout of former partner Siemens, the sales of its handset and Here mapping businesses, and the purchase of Alcatel-Lucent.
Incidentally, the timeline starts with the Siemens buyout in 2013, not with Nokia’s decision – taken less than five years ago – to restructure, selling its optical networking, fixed broadband access, and microwave transport divisions in order to narrow its focus to mobile broadband.
Meanwhile, Nokia also on Thursday reopened the public exchange offer, giving remaining Alcatel-Lucent shareholders an opportunity to swap their shares for those in the combined company.
The offer will close on 3 February, after which Alcatel-Lucent will be delisted.
Nokia also reiterated its plan to embark on a €7 billion programme to optimise its capital structure and return as much as €4 billion to shareholders.
"With the [Alcatel-Lucent] deal closed and the integration of the two companies moving forward from today, we firmly believe that it is in the best interests of any remaining Alcatel-Lucent securities holders to tender their shares," Suri said.
