China okays sale of Nokia phone unit to Microsoft

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Chinese authorities have shown Nokia green light to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft co-operation, the Finnish company has said.

“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,” Nokia said in a statement

Nokia agreed in September to sell the business to Microsoft in a $7.4 billion deal.

After the transaction goes through, several Nokia executives will transfer to Microsoft, including Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, Jo Harlow, Juha Putkiranta, Timo Toikkanen, and Chris Weber.  In total, about 32,000 employees are expected to transfer from Nokia to Microsoft.

The conditions, which will last for eight-years, require Microsoft to make its standard-essential patents which are incorporated into broader technologies throughout the industry available for licensing. It also agreed to make nonexclusive licenses available for Android Smartphones, which use software developed by Google Inc.