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Microsoft Buying Nokia’s Phone Business For $19 Billion — TWEET
Nokia has responded to the recent rumors that it’s selling its cellphone business to Microsoft, pouring cold water on the idea.
“Nokia says Microsoft acquisition rumor is ‘completely baseless’,” Bloomberg tech reporter Dina Bass tweets, citing Doug Dawson, a company spokesman.
CEO Stephen Elop also denied the rumors on stage at the D9 conference on Wednesday night: “There’s absolutely no discussion. The rumors are baseless. It is as clear as that.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t deal negotiations going on, of course. Spokespeople deflect deal talk all the time.
And while we aren’t convinced a Nokia-Microsoft deal is in the works — the source of the rumors is pretty sketchy — it’s actually not a terrible idea.
Microsoft has a bunch of cash overseas that would be best spent on overseas acquisitions, instead of repatriating it and paying a huge amount of taxes. That’s one reason it paid up for Skype, a European company.
And buying Nokia’s cellphone business might be the only way it would ever be able to make a lot of money from Windows phones.
We wouldn’t say this deal is imminent, but it’s also not the craziest thing we’ve ever heard, and is plausible in the future. Especially if Nokia’s cellphone business continues to slide, the price tag could be getting lower by the month.
Related: Here’s Why Microsoft Buying Nokia Might Actually Make Sense
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