MOFCOM Conditionally Clears Nokia's Acquisition Of Alcatel-Lucent With Behavioral Remedies

Authored by Dr. Zhan Hao (Partner at AnJie Law Firm), Song Ying (Partner at AnJie Law Firm) and Feng Siduo

On 19 October 2015, the Ministry of Commerce of the P.R.C ("MOFCOM") conditionally cleared Nokia Oyi's ("Nokia") acquisition of Alcatel Lucent ("Alcatel") with four behavioral remedies focusing on maintaining fair licensing of standard-essential patents (SEPs).

Brief Introduction of the Case

On 15 April 2015, Nokia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Acquisition with Alcatel, according to this memorandum, Nokia intends to acquire 100% shares of Alcatel through a tender off.

A notification about this deal was filed on 21 April 2015 and officially accepted by MOFCOM on 15 June 2015. On 14 July 2015, the notification went into the second phase for review of MOFCOM. After MOFCOM expressed its concerns that this deal would lead to anti-competitive effects, Nokia proposed relevant remedies to MOFCOM. Through thorough evaluation, MOFCOM considers the