Nokia fails to mop up remaining Alcatel-Lucent shares

Finnish telecom group Nokia has failed in its attempt to get its hands on 100 percent of shares in newly-acquired rival Alcatel-Lucent, the French stock market regulator said on Wednesday.

After winning nearly 80 percent of the French-American company last month, Nokia reopened its bid, hoping that all remaining shareholders would deliver their holdings.

But after the second round of bidding, Nokia was still left with only 91.25 percent in Alcatel-Lucent, the regulator said, thus failing to reach the 95-percent threshold that would have allowed it to make a clean sweep by delisting all remaining shares from the Paris stock exchange.

Nokia now has the option of buying those shares in the open market, but probably at a higher price than its original offer.

The Finnish company had offered 0.55 Nokia shares for each Alcatel-Lucent share in the takeover.