The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday said it has approved Nokia Corp’s bid to acquire California-based Infinera Corp.
While it is an extraterritorial merger, it required the commission’s approval because the two companies have subsidiaries in Taiwan, it said in a statement.
The merger would not restrict competition or create barriers to market entry, as there are other competitive businesses, while downstream trade partners such as telecoms and cable television operators hold considerable bargaining power, it said.
Photo: Reuters
Finland-based Nokia is seeking to acquire 100 percent of Infinera’s shares, and control of its business operations and personnel, which is defined as a merger, the commission said, citing Article 10 of Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
The two companies are important players in the optical transmission equipment market, posing horizontal competition to each other, the commission said.
However, they are each focused on different aspects of technology and product applications, with little overlap in their main customer base and regional operations, it said.
As the optical transmission equipment industry rapidly advances, the merger of Nokia and Infinera would speed up product development and innovation, creating economic benefits that would outweigh any disadvantages that might arise from reduced competition, it added.
Nokia in June last year announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Infinera for US$2.3 billion and said the deal was expected to close in the first half of this year.
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