Nokia in talks to buy rival Alcatel-Lucent

Telecom equipment maker Nokia on Tuesday said it is in talks to buy all of its smaller Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent to strengthen its telecommunications equipment business.

"Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent confirm that they are in advanced discussions with respect to a potential full combination, which would take the form of a public exchange offer by Nokia for Alcatel-Lucent," the companies said in a joint statement.

The announcement came a day after reports that Nokia was in talks to acquire Alcatel-Lucent's wireless infrastructure.

There can be no certainty at this stage that these discussions will result in any agreement or transaction, it added.

The purchase would represent a significant boost in market share for Nokia. The Alcatel-Lucent wireless infrastructure unit alone accounted for 36 per cent of total sales for the

Paris-based company in 2014, according to Bloomberg, generating 4.7 billion euros in revenue.

There has been speculations in the past about the two companies coming together. Experts suggested that combining forces could help the companies better with Sweden's Ericsson and China's Huawei and ZTE.

The move is expected to help Nokia expand its presence in the key US market, where Alcatel-Lucent is a major supplier to operators like AT&T and Verizon.

It will also bolster Nokia's position against Ericsson as Alcatel is a leading supplier of 4G and LTE mobile networks and related services.

Alcatel-Lucent has around 52,600 employees, while Nokia Networks had about 54,600 people globally at the end of 2014.