There has been a more intense review of mergers by regulators of late. It seems that the regulatory powers have figured out that allowing companies to have too much size and power isn’t so good for consumers. Still, a press release by Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) showed that, following a review of its planned merger with Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU), the U.S. Department of Justice has granted an early termination of the antitrust waiting period.
This matters for the merger because some investors may have wondered if any divestitures or asset sales might be necessary. The reality is that most competitors have so far not voiced much of a public opposition. After all, it isn’t as if Alcatel-Lucent or Nokia have been so powerful in their scope that they unfairly steal away everyone’s business.
Wednesday’s news means that the Justice Department is permitting the transaction to proceed. The press release said:
Early termination of the U.S. antitrust waiting period takes us one important step closer to the closing of the pending transaction. … The parties continue to make good progress with the regulatory approval processes in the remaining relevant jurisdictions, with the parties having already obtained antitrust clearances in Brazil and Serbia. Both companies will continue to cooperate with the remaining authorities to close their reviews as quickly as possible.
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As a reminder, the Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent merger is still not expected to close until the first half of 2016. Shareholders need to consider that this merger is still subject to approval by Nokia shareholders, Nokia holding over 50.00% of the share capital of Alcatel-Lucent, additional regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
It seems a safe bet that Nokia will get clearance from the other regulatory bodies to get this deal done. After all, the European regulators want their technology to be relevant and not lose much more ground, compared to what has been lost in the past decade or two.
At the end of the day, some technology and communications equipment players probably do not want to see Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent merge into a more powerful company. Then again, it isn’t as if these companies dominate their fields any longer.
Whether shareholders will want to go along here may be a different matter. Sure, there is strength in being larger. That unfortunately has not carried over into much higher share prices for these companies since the merger was announced.
Nokia’s 52-week trading range is $6.30 to $8.73, and shares are near $7.13. Alcatel-Lucent trades at $3.76, and its 52-week range is $2.28 to $4.96.
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