Monday, 19 June 2006

Nokia, Siemens Telecom Merger on the Anvil

European telecom makers Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG have agreed to combine their telephone equipment units in a deal valued at roughly 25 billion euros (USD 31.6 billion), according to a newspaper report. Nokia would control a majority of board seats of the new company, which would be based in Finland and not traded separately, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday on its Web site, citing people familiar with the deal. Ownership of the new company would be split evenly between Nokia and Siemens, and would be headed by a Nokia executive, Simon Beresford-Wylie, according to the report.

The deal was expected to be announced on Monday.