German carmaker consortium to buy Nokia’s map unit for US$3.1b
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A CONSORTIUM of German carmakers Audi, BMW and Daimler said yesterday that it is buying Nokia Corp’s “HERE” map business in a deal that values the unit at 2.8 billion euros (US$3.1 billion) and secures access to technology that could eventually be used for driverless cars.
Finland-based Nokia has refocused its business on making equipment for wireless networks after selling its mobile phone handset operation to Microsoft Corp. It said it expects to get slightly over 2.5 billion euros from the sale, with the purchasers being compensated for HERE liabilities totaling nearly 300 million euros.
The carmakers said HERE is “laying the foundations for the next generation of mobility and location based services.”
They added: “For the automotive industry this is the basis for new assistance systems and ultimately fully autonomous driving.”
The companies said in a joint statement that they will hold equal stakes in HERE and “none of them seeks to acquire a majority interest.”
HERE’s management will remain independent, with the goal of being a platform “open to all customers,” and the consortium will not interfere in its operations, they said.
“High-precision digital maps are a crucial component of the mobility of the future,” Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said.
“With the joint acquisition of HERE, we want to secure the independence of this central service for all vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and customers in other industries.”
Analysts at IHS Automotive said that HERE is one of two companies, along with TomTom, supplying navigable maps globally as an alternative to Google and Apple. The purchase will give the consortium the advantage of owning its own data.
The purchase by a consortium “may establish a de facto standard, giving the industry a unique opportunity to rally around specifications or processes that could ... hasten the onset of a connected and automated future mobility ecosystem,” they said in a note.
Matthias Machnig, a German deputy economy minister, said the acquisition is of “enormous significance from an industrial policy point of view.”
It is “important that an open platform emerges that is open to further European manufacturers,” he said.
The deal is expected to close in next year’s first quarter. Nokia said in April that it would review options for HERE in the wake of its decision to purchase French telecom company Alcatel-Lucent.
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