Nokia announced on Friday it has completed the selloff of its subsea cable unit, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), to the French government in order to focus on its core network infrastructure business.
Nokia first announced the deal to sell ASN to France’s Agence des participations de l'Etat in June 2024 at an enterprise value of EUR350 million (around US$374 million at the time). Nokia said that while ASN was a successful unit, it was also a non-core business.
The same month, Nokia struck a deal to buy out optical networking firm Infinera at an enterprise value of US$ 2.3 billion to beef up its optical portfolio as it realigned its Network Infrastructure Business Group around fixed networks, IP networks and optical networks. Infinera shareholders approved the deal in October 2024.
Nokia has accounted for ASN as a discontinued operation since the second quarter of 2024, and has held a 20% stake in the business with board representation during the transition process. Nokia said the ASN transaction was completed on 31 December.
The deal has been controversial in France, as it effectively nationalises ASN. Moreover, according to Le Monde, the EUR350 million transaction value includes EUR250 million in debt.
In a statement on Friday, Nokia said ASN “grew significantly” under its watch and is “well positioned to continue benefiting from the growth of the large and attractive subsea cables market.”
ASN has also been looking to augment its business by adding climate-change monitoring tech to subsea cables. To that end, ASN said in September it is collaborating with seismic instrumentation company Nanometrics and environmental monitoring firm RBR.
The first project under that collaboration is the Tamtam subsea cable between Vanuatu and New Caledonia, which ASN is deploying under a contract with Vanuatu-based Prima signed in January 2024. That cable will be fitted with nodes that enable real-time monitoring of seismic activities and efficient tsunami detection.
