Reports claim Microsoft is set to acquire Nokia’s phone business for $19bn

Update: at D9 today, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop took to the stage and made it clear that there are absolutely no discussions between the two companies regarding a Nokia buyout.

Reports are emerging that Microsoft may be set to acquire Nokia’s phone business for $19bn. Nokia comprises three main business groups: Mobile Phones, Smart Devices and Markets. And it’s the Mobile Phones business only that would be acquired by Microsoft.

We reported a couple of weeks back that such a deal wasn’t likely, but according to the same industry insider we rebutted a couple of weeks back, Eldar Murtazin has put an actual figure on the deal this time. And he claims a deal has been struck for $19bn.

As the report on BGR states, the deal does make sense in many respects. Nokia’s CEO is former Microsoft man Stephen Elop, and the two companies are already in close partnership to create a new family of Windows phones.

Following the rumors a couple of weeks back, Mark Squires – Communications Director at Nokia – tweeted:

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“We typically don’t comment on rumors. But we have to say that Eldar’s rumors are getting obviously less accurate with every passing moment.”

So, a specific rumor was previously quashed, and that normally means that it’s not true – otherwise they tend to adopt a ‘no comment’ approach. And on this occasion, I received a comment from Mark Squires that refers to these reports as “completely baseless”.

So – all that’s really changed on this occasion is that Murtazin has put a figure on the supposed deal, and Nokia has debunked this new report again.

But having a specific figure is interesting, and we’ll wait to see if any further details emerge relating to this. It’s also worth noting that Nokia has been losing key staff of late, as we reported last week, when a key VP jumped ship and joined Sony Ericsson. Whether this has any significance remains to be seen, but all signs so far are that this is just a rumor.