China Authorities Delay Nokia Siemens Networks' $1.2B Deal With Motorola

Telecom gear company Nokia Siemens Networks‘ acquisition of Motorola‘s wireless networks infrastructure assets will be delayed further beyond the Q1 deadline as Chinese regulatory authorities continue to review the deal, the company announced this morning. The joint venture had originally announced that it would be acquiring Motorola’s network unit for $1.2 billion in cash in July 2010.

In a press statement, Nokia Siemens Networks says the transaction is still pending anti-trust approval from China’s antitrust authorities and that closing activities will not be completed in the first quarter of this year, as previously targeted.

From the press release:

The proposed acquisition has entered phase three of the review process with the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce in China (MOFCOM). Nokia Siemens Networks remains committed to the acquisition but will provide no further guidance on when it is likely to be completed.

NSN originally hoped to complete the acquisition by the end of 2010, but it now appears to have been delayed indefinitely. The deal has already received the approval of regulators worldwide, from the United States to Europe and Japan.

Nokia Siemens Network, as the name suggests, is a joint venture between Finland’s Nokia and Germany’s Siemens.