Telecom equipment producer Nokia will buy its French rival Alcatel-Lucent, which has 1,000 employees in Romania. Nokia, which closed its factory in Jucu, near Cluj Napoca, in 2011, will thus return to Romania.

In an all-share deal, Nokia has valued Alcatel-Lucent at EUR 15.6 billion. The Finnish telecom equipment producer will give Alcatel-Lucent shareholders 0.55 shares in the combined company for each of their old shares. These will own a third in the new company called Nokia Corporation, whereas the current owners of the Finnish group will own two thirds.

The two companies will complete the deal in the first half of 2016.  This is expected to result in EUR 900 million of operating cost savings by the end of 2019. The new company will have about 114,000 employees and combined sales of around EUR 26 billion.

Nokia closed its factory in Romania in 2011 to focus its feature phone manufacturing in those locations with optimal proximity to suppliers and key markets. Alcatel-Lucent has been active on the Romanian market since 1991. In 2012, the company had a turnover of EUR 57 million.

editor@romania-insider.com