The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has given its approval to
Microsoft's pending acquisition of Nokia's mobile devices and services
business.
The transaction got the DOJ nod on November 29, according to the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition notification on December 2.
"We look forward to the date when our partners at Nokia will become
members of the Microsoft family, and are pleased that the Department of
Justice has cleared the deal unconditionally," said a Microsoft
spokesperson in a prepared statement.
Last month, Nokia shareholders gave their approval to the deal
during an extraordinary general meeting in Helsinki. Indian authorities
gave their approval to the Microsoft-Nokia deal earlier this fall.
The next hurdle for the deal will be the European Union. Antitrust
regulators there are on tap to decide whether or not Microsoft's bid
breaches the EU's competition rules. Reuters reported in October that
the European Commission would decide by December 4
whether or not to clear the acquisition. (It can extend the review by
an additional 10 business days if needed to weigh possible concessions
by Microsoft if there are any concerns.) Microsoft went public with plans to buy Nokia's devices and services business,
plus license a number of its patents, for $7.2 billion in September.
Microsoft officials have said they expect the transaction to be
completed around the first quarter of 2014.
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a
variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio,
TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is
the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the
post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).
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