At the long awaited extraordinary meeting in Helsinki today, shareholders have approved the deal that will allow the sale of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit to Microsoft. The deal was met with near unanimous approval with close to 99.7 percent of holders agreeing with the sale. The sale represents four-fifths of Nokia’s shares and the deal is worth around $7.2 billion.
Nokia Chairman Siilasmaa delivered a presentation at the shareholder meeting wherein the Board unanimously recommended the sale to Microsoft. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will return to Microsoft early next year where he will head the devices and services team.
The dialogue between Redmond and Finland’s most iconic company is said to have started back at Mobile World Congress when Steve Ballmer initiated talks regarding the sale of Nokia’s Devices and Services division to Microsoft. This was after both companies agreed that Windows Phone wasn’t achieving the success they had anticipated. After the transition, CEO Stephen Elop will receive a $25.4 million pay off including 18 months of salary, short term cash incentive and shares worth $19.7 million.Will Windows Phone be able to prosper with hardware and software consolidated under a single roof ? Only time will tell.
[Via –Financial Times]