Nokia has announced that the sale of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft will be delayed until April.
The Finnish mobile firm revised its projected transaction closing date from the first quarter of this year to the end of April. The company said both it and Microsoft are still committed to the deal.
The sale has received most of the required regulatory approval from the likes of the European Commission and US Department of Justice, but Nokia is still waiting for approval from antitrust authorities in Asia.
Nokia said that both it and Microsoft are confident the deal will close. It denied that ongoing tax issues in India have any bearing on the delayed sale.
Deal or no deal
The buyout was first announced in September of last year, building on a previous exclusivity deal that Microsoft and Nokia operated for Windows Phone.
The relative lack of success of that partnership has raised questions over just how viable the duo are in the mobile market, but it seems that Microsoft is still willing to bet that Nokia's assets can help it make Windows Phone a major contender to Android and iOS.
The acquisition is worth €3.79 billion ($US5 billion, £3.2 billion, AUD$5.6 billion), and Microsoft is also forking out an additional €1.65 billion ($US2.18 billion, £1.4 billion, AUD$2.4 billion) to license Nokia's valuable mobile patents.
