Nokia shareholders back €5.4bn deal with Microsoft

Nokia shareholders backed the €5.4bn sale of the firm’s mobile phone business to Microsoft, deciding that the deal’s financial benefits outweighed any objections to the loss of a Finnish national asset.

Investors holding over 99% of Nokia voting rights supported the deal, a final tally at yesterday’s share-holders meeting in Helsinki showed. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of next year after regulatory clearances.

Nokia had in September agreed to sell its devices and services business and licence its patents to Microsoft after failing to recover from a late start in smartphones.