In a move that was only a rumor till now, Microsoft has made public, the deal to buy out all the handset business and services of Nokia. Microsoft said that it had reached an agreement to buy the devices and services of Nokia for $7.2 billion (€5.4 billion).

Microsoft also said that the deal would also carry in over 32,000 employees from Nokia to Microsoft. Stephen Elop, the current CEO of Nokia, will then rejoin Microsoft once the deal is put into action. Interestingly, he also comes in at the right time to get himself up for the race to the position of the next CEO of Microsoft; as its current CEO, Steve Ballmer is all set to resign within a year.

Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer said:

It’s a bold step into the future – a win-win for employees, shareholders and consumers of both companies. Bringing these great teams together will accelerate Microsoft’s share and profits in phones, and strengthen the overall opportunities for both Microsoft and our partners across our entire family of devices and services.

This deal also means that Microsoft would be getting hands on all the patents and mapping services of Nokia, which would further tighten up the competition for others like Samsung, Apple and Google, with the ‘once-a-mobile-giant’ joining hands with ‘still-a-giant-microsoft’. You can read more about the deal from Microsoft’s own mouth.

Let’s just not hope to see another big patent war brewing.

Do you think that Microsoft buying Nokia mobile services would turn the game for both Microsoft and Nokia in the tight market, or do you still think that this can do nothing to challenge your favorite brand? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.