Nokia, Siemens to enter $31b merger

Nokia and Siemens AG have agreed to combine their telephone equipment units in a deal valued at roughly 25 billion euros ($31.6 billion), a newspaper report quoted by the Associated Press said.

The Associated Press report said Nokia would control a majority of board seats of the new company, which would be based in Finland and not traded separately, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited industry sources.

Ownership of the new company would be split evenly between Nokia and Siemens, and would be headed by a Nokia executive, Simon Beresford-Wylie, according to the report.

The deal was expected to be announced this week, the Associated Press report said.

The combination would allow both companies to reduce redundant research and development spending, with savings to reach as high as 1.25 billion euros ($1.58 billion) annually, according to the report.