Nokia employees will move to a nearby building that’s now renovated

Nov 21, 2013 22:46 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft’s takeover deal for Nokia’s Devices & Services Unit is expected to complete in the first quarter of the next year and as part of the agreement, the Finish phone manufacturer will also have to move out of its headquarters.

TechCrunch is reporting that Microsoft will also take over the Espoo, Finland headquarters in case the deal goes through (which will most likely happen, now that Nokia’s shareholders have already given their go-ahead for the sale).

Approximately 32,000 Nokia employees will be transferred to Microsoft, so they will continue to work in the same building, but the other workers will have to move to a nearby building in Karaportti that’s actually owned by the Finnish manufacturer.

Nokia has already confirmed the move, saying that the Devices & Services unit will stay in place, while all the other employees will move to the new location.

“The vast majority of people in the building are working on Devices & Services related activities, so the building will become a Microsoft site. This is still targeted to be finalised in Q1 2014. People who will work for Nokia post-transaction will relocate to a building nearby that Nokia already owns,” a company spokesperson was quoted as saying.

“This building is currently being renovated in Karaportti, this is a campus we have had for many years. Of course, all regulatory approval will have to be in place prior any personnel movement.”

At the same time, the Espoo headquarters will continue to be used by Microsoft as the main location for developing new smartphone projects, as the company isn’t planning any major changes to the unit it has recently purchased for $7.2 billion (€5.4 billion).

Microsoft is still waiting for the sale to be cleared by EU antitrust body, so expect the move to be taking place in the first months of 2014.