Deals
How Nokia’s Alcatel Deal Has Come Back to Haunt Its CEO
- Suri’s dealmaking victory hid scale of task to merge companies
- Nokia now weighing options including asset sales and mergers
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When Nokia Oyj bought Alcatel-Lucent in 2016, it looked like a strategic win for Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Suri. Instead, the deal left a trail of problems that’s forcing the Finnish network equipment maker to reconsider its entire business.
Alcatel had assets that helped Nokia to deliver more complete communication systems. It also created an urgent drive for cost savings that ultimately distracted from the effort to become a market leader in the fifth generation of wireless networks.