Redmond has confirmed that the deal will be completed this week

Apr 22, 2014 06:52 GMT  ·  By

As announced last month, Microsoft’s Nokia takeover is on track to close in April and according to new information revealed by the company itself, this important milestone is projected to be reached this week.

Brad Smith, general counsel & executive vice president, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft, said in a post that Microsoft had finally completed all steps to successfully purchase Nokia’s devices and services unit, so the takeover should be finalized on Friday.

“Today we are excited to share that we have completed the steps necessary to finalize Microsoft’s acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business. The transaction will be completed this Friday, April 25, when we’ll officially welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business as part of the Microsoft family,” Smith revealed in a blog post.

Smith then went on to explain that the Nokia takeover was expected to support Microsoft’s efforts in the mobile sector, so the company’s improvements aimed at the Windows Phone platform and other mobile projects are set to be greatly enhanced thanks to this important acquisition.

“The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones. In addition, we look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones,” Smith explained.

As part of the deal, Microsoft will also take over the nokia.com domain and social media accounts in order to manage all information displayed online as well as customer data. Redmond claims that everyone will benefit from this change, but Nokia will regain control to the domain after one year.

Microsoft has also announced that a number of terms also changed, including the number of Nokia employees that will actually move to Redmond as part of the acquisition.

While all employees in Nokia’s Chief Technology Office were initially supposed to stay with the Finnish mobile phone make, the company now says that the 21 employees in China who are currently working on mobile devices will actually switch to Redmond and do exactly the same thing for Microsoft.

At the same time, Smith also revealed that although the original deal stated that Nokia’s Korean manufacturing plant would be also be included in the acquisition, the takeover will actually be completed without Microsoft acquiring the facility, most likely due to failed negotiations with the local authorities.