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India: Supreme Court slaps fees on Nokia ahead of Microsoft asset transfer

By  |  March 31, 2014

Nokia was ordered to pay $572 million by India’s Supreme Court, a guarantee required before the company transfers a manufacturing plant to Microsoft, reports say.

The plant, which manufactures handsets, will be transferred to Microsoft in part of a major merger between the two firms. But Nokia entered into a feud with India tax authorities over the manufacturing plant, say reports.

The Indian IT Department had reportedly argued that Nokia must pay higher taxes to secure the assets from the government. The Supreme Court sided with the IT Department and ruled that Nokia must pay $572 million before the asset transfer or the company could lost the manufacturing plant altogether.

Microsoft announced plans to acquire Nokia’s handset operations earlier this year in a $7.2 billion deal. Nokia said the companies plan to complete the deal this month.

Full Content: Think Digit

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