Microsoft's Multi Billion Dollar deal with Nokia passes the China hurdle !

 The $7.2 billion acquisition had been delayed by the antitrust review, but China's antitrust regulators have approved the deal. By end of April, Lumias will be a part of MicroSoft !Chinese regulatory authorities have given their approval for the merging of Nokia with Microsoft without demanding change in the Finn's company patent practices. According to Nokia, which has received green light for the merger from the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, the deal should close this month.

When one massive corporation buys another one, it's not as simple as handing over the dosh and winking. There's also the small matter of the world's competition authorities, which check that the deal won't affect market conditions.China has finally given its blessing to the Microsoft - Nokia tie-up, meaning that the pair can make their marriage official, probably before the end of April. 

In September, 2013, Nokia agreed to sell its phone business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion.

Due to the restructuring of the company, Google and Samsung have expressed their concern for a rise of its patent licensing fees. However, that's not the case, as Nokia has said it hadn't been accused of unfair practices before.

"No authority has challenged Nokia's compliance with its ... undertakings related to standard-essential patents or requested that Nokia make changes to its licensing program or royalty terms," it said in the statement.

Antitrust review of the Microsoft-Nokia deal in Asia had delayed the acquisition, which the companies had planned to complete by March. In a statement Tuesday, Nokia reiterated its belief that the deal will now close in April.

"Nokia and Microsoft have now received regulatory approvals from the People's Republic of China, the European Commission, the US Department of Justice and numerous other jurisdictions," Nokia said. Nokia has been involved in a tax bill dispute in India, so it’s possible that situation is holding up regulatory approval there. 

If Microsoft gets its way, the acquisition will mean consumers have another ecosystem of phones, apps, and services that's as powerful as those built by Apple around iOS and by Google around Android. So far, though, other challengers haven't yet dented the dominance of those two mobile OSes.

Nokia stock rose €0.15 (21 cents), or about 3 percent, to €5.47 ($7.52) in trading in Helsinki Tuesday. Microsoft stock, in trading before US markets opened, dropped 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $39.80.

Evidently feeling compelled to answer critics of its patent licensing terms, Nokia had this to add: "The regulatory approval process has involved a thorough review of Nokia's patent licensing practices by several competition authorities around the world. During that process, no authority has challenged Nokia's compliance with its FRAND undertakings related to standard-essential patents (licensing on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms) or requested that Nokia make changes to its licensing program or royalty terms."

The acquisition is a major change for both companies. Nokia had risen to become the top mobile phone company worldwide, but has steadily lost relevance and financial success with the arrival of Apple and Android smartphones. Nokia's tight partnership with Microsoft to use the Windows Phone operating system failed to restore its fortunes.

And for Microsoft, the acquisition will mean a full transformation from a software company into one that sells hardware, too. Microsoft's Surface tablets, which run Windows 8 and Windows RT, haven't made a huge dent in the tablet market.

Microsoft has also released a statement which touches on the patent licensing issue, and reveals that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce did have some concerns about how its patent licensing practices might change post-acquisition.

“We look forward to working through the final details to complete our acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business,” Microsoft noted in a statement. “It has never been Microsoft’s intention to change its existing patent licensing policies as a result of this transaction, so while we disagree with the concerns expressed by MOFCOM [the Chinese Ministry of Commerce], the conditions imposed will not impact our future licensing practices. In reaching its decision, MOFCOM concluded after its investigation that Microsoft holds approximately 200 patent families that are necessary to build an Android smartphone.”

Microsoft said the Chinese regulatory approval of the Nokia devices deal is subject to a set of conditions which relate to standard-essential patents and FRAND patent licensing terms.

Commenting on the Microsoft blog, David Howard, Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Litigation & Antitrust, said Redmond has been discussing the commitments with MOFCOM for the past “few months”. The regulator’s concerns had focused on ensuring Microsoft’s patent-related licensing conduct did not change after the close of the acquisition.

“There was an important principle with which MOFCOM approached these discussions from the beginning: any commitments should be focused on how our future conduct might change after we own the Nokia Devices and Services business, and should not impact our licenses signed in the past or historical practices. It has never been our intent to change our practices after we acquire the Nokia business, so while we disagreed with the premise that our incentives might change in the future, we were happy to discuss commitments on this basis,” noted Howard.
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