Chinese regulators have finally given a green light to Nokia's $7.2 billion sale of its devices and services business to Microsoft. With the approval, the Nokia-Microsoft marriage has cleared a big hurdle, and the deal could now close before the end of this month.
"Nokia and Microsoft have now received regulatory approvals from the People's Republic of China, the European Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous other jurisdictions", the Finnish company said in a press release.
Although companies like ZTE, Lenovo, and Xiaomi objected to the deal stating that it could lead to Nokia charging higher patent fees, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce gave it a thumbs up after a thorough review process that lasted for more than a month.
According to a TechCrunch report, Microsoft has released a statement saying that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce had some concerns about how its patent licensing practices might change post-acquisition. But the software giant has clarified that the company has no plans to change its existing patent licensing policies.
Earlier, both Nokia and Microsoft planned to close the deal by March, but antitrust review of the deal in Asia delayed the acquisition. The deal is now pending regulatory approval in India, where the Finnish handset maker has been involved in a tax dispute.