Microsoft and Nokia deal won’t close until April

Microsoft's $7.17 billion Nokia buyout deal was announced late last year, the deal was expected to finally close this month however, regulators have delayed the finalisation until April as a few more approvals need to be made. Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Brad Smith, announced the small delay in a blog post:

“We are nearing the final stages of our global regulatory approval process – to date we have received approvals from regulatory authorities in 15 markets on five continents. Currently, we are awaiting approval confirmation in the final markets. This work has been progressing, and we expect to close next month, in April 2014,” he said, “Our acquisition will accelerate our mobile-first, cloud-first imperatives. We're looking forward to accelerating innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones and introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones. In the interim, our top priority continues to be maintaining a great experience for consumers and business continuity for our partners”

Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia in September last year after having worked closely in the mobile sector for many years on Windows Phone devices. Before the buyout was announced, Microsoft had been working on a Surface brand phone but the company has instead chosen to stick with the Lumia branding for future releases.

KitGuru Says: Microsoft almost owns the largest Windows Phone manufacturer, I wonder how Microsoft's influence will affect future Nokia Lumia handsets.

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