Nokia to start job cuts following Alcatel deal

Finland’s Nokia launched a job cutting programme on Wednesday following its acquisition of France’s Alcatel-Lucent, but did not say how many positions it was planning to axe. The company said it was sticking to its target for 900 million euros ($1.02 billion) of operating cost synergies from the deal by 2018. “Reductions will come largely in areas where there are overlaps, such as research and development, regional and sales organizations as well as corporate functions,” Nokia said in a statement, adding it planned to report on the details alongside its quarterly earnings. Nokia had said it has gained control of French counterpart Alcatel-Lucent following its 15.6-billion-euro ($17 billion) all-share offer and the two telecom equipment makers started to combine their operations early this year. The Alcatel acquisition will put Nokia into a stronger position to compete with Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei in a market for telecom network gear where limited growth and tough competition are pressuring prices. The French stock market authority said interim results from the offer showed Nokia would hold around 79 percent of Alcatel shares. The deal, set to become the biggest transaction in Finland’s corporate history, follows a string of M&A moves that have restructured former mobile phone giant Nokia in recent years. In 2013, it took control of its network business by buying out Siemens from a joint venture, and in 2014 it sold the ailing mobile phone business to Microsoft. Last year it also sold navigation business HERE. Reuters