Microsoft 's acquisition of Nokia is being delayed due to problems with the Indian government over tax issues, for which there seems to be no progress.
According to a report by the Indian Economic Times, the Indian government is setting a series of financial conditions to give the "green light" to the release of Nokia's facilities in Chennai and thus complete the acquisition process by Microsoft.
The Indian government's tax claims amount to $116 million, mainly as guarantees against future taxes. At the same time, the local government of Chennai is setting its own financial conditions for Nokia India. The whole matter is complicated by the fact that Nokia's appeals to the Indian courts have not been treated favorably.
Both Nokia and Microsoft say that the Indian involvement will not further delay the completion of the acquisition, and are therefore considering leaving the Chennai plant out of the overall deal, at least for now.
At the same time, if the problems continue, the possibility of closing the plant is even being considered. In any case, if the Chennai facilities are left out of the deal, the cost of the acquisition is expected to be reduced by almost a billion dollars. Let us recall that the initial cost of the deal is 7.2 billion dollars.
In any case, the factory will become, active or inactive, the property of Microsoft, since due to pending tax issues, Nokia cannot sell it to a third party.
It is worth noting that the facilities in question employ 8,000 workers, while companies involved in supply and service provision in Chennai employ another 22,000 workers.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
