- By imposing conditions Nokia (NOK -2.6%) deems to be "unacceptable," an Indian court has halted the transfer of Nokia's massive Chennai phone manufacturing plant (employs 30K people) to Microsoft (MSFT +0.9%), and in doing so has further stalled the sale of the former's phone unit to the latter.
- The halt is tied to Nokia's ongoing $1.1B tax dispute with the Indian government. Nokia has responded by appealing to India's Supreme Court. In the meantime, chairman Risto Siilasmaa is meeting with government figures in an attempt to find a resolution.
- Nokia, whose shares are selling off today, once more suggests (previous) its Indian manufacturing ops could be moved elsewhere on account of the dispute. "It seems that working with the tax authorities here in India can be very hard and unpredictable, which is clearly not good for businesses."
- Previous: Indian court lifts freeze on Nokia factory
- Update: Nokia says it doesn't expect the tax dispute to stop the Microsoft deal from closing in Q1.