Nokia has bumped back the proposed date for the merger of its Networks division with Siemens’ networks unit, to allow a bribery investigation into Siemens’ telecoms division to run its course.
Nokia said that Nokia Siemens Networks “is now expected to start operations in the first quarter 2007, instead of January 2007 as previously expected”.
But that date will still be subject to agreement between Nokia and Siemens on the results and consequences of Siemens’ compliance review. The review is expected to be performed during the first quarter 2007, which may make the target date for completion of the merger somewhat aggressive.
Nokia has made clear that it wants the new company to start “with a clean slate” and is keen to see the results of Siemens’ own review before confirming the deal.
Investigations into Siemens have centred on claims that executives syphoned off funds into slush funds used to pay consultancy fees as bribes to contracts.
Earlier this week former senior executive Thomas Gaswindt was arrested, and the firm now says it is probing possible bribery of more than €420m (£283m) in consultancy payments, more than twice previous estimates.