Nokia Outlines Structure for Alcatel-Lucent Takeover

Nokia Corp. on Wednesday laid out management and organizational plans for the group as it prepares for the completion of its €15.6 billion ($17.6 billion) acquisition of French rival Alcatel-Lucent SA.

"We are making very good progress on being ready to operate as a combined company when the proposed exchange offer closes," said Nokia Chief Executive Rajeev Suri.

Nokia's chief financial officer, Timo Ihamuotila, will remain in his position and serve as CFO of the combined group, while Ashish Chowdhary, currently chief business officer at Nokia Networks, will become chief customer operations officer.

Nokia said it plans to split its current Networks business, merging businesses from Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent to create four groups: Mobile Networks, Fixed Networks, Applications & Analytics and IP/Optical Networks.

Samih Elhage, currently executive vice president and chief financial and operating officer of Nokia Networks, will become president of Mobile Networks, while Federico Guillen, the president of Fixed Networks at Alcatel-Lucent will become president of the new combined Fixed Networks unit.

President of the new Applications & Analytics business will be Bhaskar Gorti, who is currently president of IP Platforms at Alcatel-Lucent. Basil Alwan, currently president of IP Routing and Transport at Alcatel-Lucent will become president of IP/Optical Networks.

The company's Nokia Technologies division will remain a separate entity and will continue to be headed by Ramzi Haidamus, it said.

The deal for Alcatel-Lucent was announced in April after months of talks, as the two firms seek to better compete against larger rivals. They are currently working with the few remaining antitrust authorities to conclude their regulatory reviews and completion of the deal is expected in the first half of 2016.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]

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October 07, 2015 02:55 ET (06:55 GMT)

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