As per the article, with italic emphases mine: "A year ago, Nokia sold its struggling handset business to Microsoft Corp. This week's media reports were focused

As per the article, with italic emphases mine: "A year ago, Nokia sold its struggling handset business to Microsoft Corp. This week's media reports were focused on the idea that Nokia may buy Alcatel-Lucent's mobile networks arm, which would be a simpler deal to carry out than a full combination but would leave the French firm much smaller." In short, Nokia sold their iconic and consumer-facing handset division (what they used to call their "Device & Services Business"[1]) to Microsoft in November 2013, although the sale didn't officially complete until April 2014. However, after the divestiture Nokia still existed as a corporate entity with the majority (over 90%) of the revenues coming from their Nokia Solutions and Networks division (NSN) [2]. NSN and ALU's mobile networks division are direct competitors in the telecommunication equipment and software market, so a potential merger makes sense depending on which side of the table you're on. [1] http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2014/04/25/nokia-completes-sale-of-substantially-all-of-its-devices-services-business-to-microsoft http://company.nokia.com/en/news/press-releases/2014/04/25/n... [2] http://www.economist.com/news/business/21590363-after-sale-its-devices-division-microsoft-what-was-once-worlds-biggest http://www.economist.com/news/business/21590363-after-sale-i...