It took eight years, but the ownership of Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN)—the submarine telecom cable production and installation subsidiary of Finnish equipment manufacturer Nokia—has finally been resolved, with the owner being the French government.

A press release said that on Nov. 5, Antoine Armand, the French economy minister, and Marc Ferracci, the French industry minister, signed a contract to acquire 80% of the capital at the company’s plant in Calais. ASN was a subsidiary of Alcatel, then Alcatel-Lucent, until it was acquired by the Finnish group Nokia in 2016. “The proposed sale of ASN to the French State is the result of extensive discussions which concluded that the French State is the most relevant custodian of ASN,” Nokia said, in a statement.

Per a report in Le Monde, the transaction is worth around €100 million, with the state taking on ASN’s €250 million debt. Nokia will retain a 20% interest that can be bought out later.

An on-line report said that Nokia had been seeking to divest ASN since it completed its Alcatel-Lucent purchase in 2016. “At one stage it even looked like Nokia was resigned to hanging on to the company itself. But ultimately, Alcatel Submarine Networks is a strategic asset for the French state and as such the government has decided to put its hand in its pocket, regardless of the distraction of an upcoming election.”