Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (pictured) will become executive vice president of Microsoft Devices Group on completion of the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices & Services business, Satya Nadella, the recently-installed CEO of Microsoft, confirmed yesterday.

Elop became Nokia’s executive VP of Devices & Services following the announcement in September last year that Microsoft had agreed to acquire that part of the Finnish firm’s operations for €5.4 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of April.

Nadella and Elop have already been working on the initial stages of integration planning for when the Nokia unit becomes part of Microsoft. The pair also worked together during Elop’s stint as Nokia CEO and when the Canadian headed Microsoft’s business division prior to that.

In an email to employees, Nadella said Elop will bring together leaders from the Nokia Devices & Services organisation and the current executives leading Microsoft’s Devices and Studios team.

He will also “partner closely” with Phil Spencer, who has been appointed to lead the new Xbox group, which combines the Xbox and Xbox Live development teams, and Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the operating systems group.

Referring to the Nokia deal, Nadella said: “The mobile capabilities, hardware design expertise, and world-class manufacturing and supply chain operations they bring will help us drive innovations in devices to delight our customers.”

When Nadella’s appointment as CEO was announced in February, he told the company’s employees that their job “is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world”.

Just last week, the software giant announced long-awaited versions of its Office products for Apple’s iPad as it looks to improves its position in mobile.