WSJ: Nokia Discussed Pursuit Of Tie-up With Alcatel-Lucent

(RTTNews) - Board of directors of Nokia Corp. (NOK), which recently announced the sale of its handset business to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), has discussed a tie-up with French firm Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing several people familiar with the deliberations.

The talks were part of a review of many options for the Finnish company's future business strategy. While Nokia has discussed "all options" concerning a potential deal with Alcatel-Lucent, no formal discussions have been initiated with the French firm, the report added.

Alcatel-Lucent is the product of the merger between France's Alcatel and former AT&T equipment arm Lucent Technologies in 2006. The company is still burning cash and is in the midst of a restructuring program.

Alcatel-Lucent's contracts include those with U.S. carriers Verizon Wireless and AT&T, as well as Chinese telecom giant China Mobile Ltd.

A deal between Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent could lead to the creation of a new European giant that would be better positioned to compete with Sweden's Ericsson (ERIC) and China's Huawei Technologies, the report said.

Nokia fell 0.4 percent in Helsinki on Wednesday to settle at 4.90 euros. Alcatel-Lucent's shares were lower by 0.7 percent at 2.53 euros.