The joint venture, to be named Nokia Shanghai Bell, will be
built upon a similar, long-time joint venture between France's
Alcatel-Lucent and China Huaxin, which is a state-owned Chinese
investment company.
According to a memorandum of understanding, Nokia said it
expects to hold 50 percent plus one share in the new joint
venture, with Huaxin holding the remaining shares.
China is the last major jurisdiction still to approve Nokia's
15.6 billion euro ($17.6 billion) takeover of Alcatel.
"With this MoU now in place, we will... work closely with our
new partners to make the case for swift approval of the proposed
combination," Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said in a statement.
Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies said the joint venture deal was a
promising sign.
"If they have agreed that with a state-backed partner, it likely
means that there will be green light coming for the whole
(Alcatel) deal."
The Nokia-Alcatel transaction is expected to close next year.
(Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl; editing by Jason Neely)
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