Last September, Microsoft Corporation agreed to acquire the Devices and Services business of Nokia including the Lumia and Asha brands for €5.44 billion. The companies expect to close the deal during the first quarter of 2014.
According to Nokia Corporation, Ovesen will continue to serve the company in an advisory role for a period after the completion of the Microsoft deal.
Nokia’s Ovesen a key factor in growth
In a statement, Risto Siilasman, chairman and interim CEO of Nokia expressed gratitude to Ovesen for “lending the full breadth of his restructuring and change management expertise and for playing a critical part in building a stronger NSN.”
According to Siilasman, NSN became profitable and the leading mobile broadband specialist that pushed the boundaries of connecting people through LTE and future technologies under the guidance of Ovesen.
Ovesen became the executive chairman of NSN when Nokia formed a joint venture with Siemens AG in 2011. He supported NSN CEO Rajeev Suri and his management team in establishing the telecoms infrastructure business of the Finnish company as a leader in the industry focused on mobile broadband and related services. Suri will remain in his position and will continue to report to the NSN board.
Nokia sole owner of NSN
Nokia is now the sole owner of NSN after acquiring the stake owned by Siemens AG for $1.7 billion last August. Back then, analysts at Nomura Equity Research believed that the acquisition of NSN would help boost Nokia’s stock value.
The Finnish company is expected to provide further details regarding its new management structure as well the its telecommunications infrastructure business after the closing of its transaction with Microsoft.
The stock price of Nokia is trading at about $7.99 a share, down by nearly 1% around 12:15 in the afternoon in New York.
