Nokia gets approval to buy Alcatel-Lucent

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Finnish telecom group Nokia announced yesterday it has received all US regulatory approvals needed for its proposed acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, taking a step closer towards creating the world’s biggest supplier of mobile phone network equipment. Following its previous anti-trust clearance from the US Justice department, the acquisition of the French-American company has now also been cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Nokia said in a statement.

In mid-April Nokia struck a 15.6 billion euro ($17.6bn) deal to buy its troubled rival Alcatel-Lucent, which only had one year of profit since the company was created in 2006.