Looks like Microkia is now one step closer to reality. The U.S. Department of Justice recently approved Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Nokia's Devices & Services division, which was first announced in early September. A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet that the Redmond firm is "pleased" that deal has gotten the go-ahead from the Justice Department and that Microsoft is looking forward to welcoming Nokia to its family.
This is the second hurdle cleared by the Microsoft-Nokia deal in the past month, coming a couple of weeks after a near-unanimous vote to approve the deal from Nokia's shareholders. While it's not a done deal quite yet, things are definitely looking good for Microsoft's proposed acquisition. The deal still needs to be okayed by the European Commission, but the good news is that that decision is expected to come as early as Dec. 4. Microsoft has said that it expects its acquisition of Nokia's hardware division to reach completion by the first quarter of 2014.
