It's official. Microsoft on Friday confirmed that it now owns Nokia's Devices and Services business after completing the acquisition deal worth more than US$7 billion.

The deal is part of Microsoft's overall plan to shift its business to the mobile and cloud markets. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on Friday that Nokia's mobile capabilities and assets will advance Microsoft's transformation.

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The acquisition will make former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop the new president of Microsoft's Devices Group. Reporting directly to Nadella, Elop will be tasked to oversee Microsoft hardware, which includes the Nokia Lumia smartphone line, Xbox and Surface.

Microsoft's entry to the highly-competitive smartphone market immediately made gains. Its Windows mobile operating system has been considered as the fastest-growing operating system by global research and advisory firm International Data Center.

Microsoft's Windows OS has also overtaken Blackberry as the third most popular OS for smartphones, next to Android and Apple's iOs.

In a statement on Nokia's website on Friday, Elop confirmed the acquisition following the approval by regulatory authorities and Nokia's shareholders. The deal took six months to be completed. It was in September when Microsoft announced that it will buy Nokia for US$7.2 billion.

"Today is an exciting day as we join the Microsoft family, and take the first, yet important, step in our long-term journey," said Elop.

Under the deal, Microsoft now owns 8,500 of Nokia's phone manufacturing design patents and is licensing at least 30,000 other Nokia patents for 10 years.

25,000 Nokia Employees Now Under Microsoft

The deal also means that Nokia's 25,000 employees and factories in 50 countries will also be acquired by Microsoft.

Experts said Nokia's decision to sell its device and services unit was a wise move considered that the company's market share in the smartphone market has continued to plummet with the entry of Apple's iPhone and South Korea's Samsung.

Nokia used to be the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer but have failed to quickly adapt to the new generation of devices that the world started to love since 2007, with the entry of the iPhone.

Microsoft made no further announcement other than the completion of the deal, prompting analysts to believe that the company is not immediately launching a phone or tablet that will be branded under the Microsoft Mobile brand.