Nokia is looking into the possibility of selling off its mapping business and apps, a report claims. The remains of the company, following the sale of its smartphone business to Microsoft last year for $7.2 billion, is apparently planning to hand off its Here maps business in order to focus on its wireless network division, and is said to have already received some interest.
Bloomberg claims Nokia has already reached out to a number of potential suitors, including Uber, with a contingent of car manufacturers in Germany apparently said to be planning to place a bid for the unit soon, possibly before the end of this month. At present, Nokia’s Here assets are valued at approximately 2 billion euro ($2.1 billion), with a sale likely to be higher than that figure.
While Here is valued at 2 billion euro, this is a hefty loss for the business overall, as Nokia acquired map producer Navteq for $8.1 billion in 2008. At present, the Here business reported full-year sales of 970 million euro ($1.03 billion) and an operating loss of 1.21 billion euro ($1.28 billion), including a goodwill impairment of 1.21 billion euro.
As for what the sale of Here could accomplish, it is suggested by one analyst that it could be used to acquire a competitor. “We believe a sale of the mapping business could give further credibility to the scenario of an offer on Alcatel-Lucent’s wireless access business.” suggests Sebastien Sztabowicz of Kepler Cheuvereux.
