Nokia has finally confirmed the sale of its mapping service HERE for €2.8 billion to a consortium of Audi, BMW, and Daimler.
The sale between Nokia and the German carmaker is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2016. Audi, BMW, and Daimler will hold an equal share of the market, and they say none of them is seeking to acquire a majority stake.
“The management of the HERE service will continue to be independent, with the aim of moving the service into the business world as a platform, which will be open to all its customers, the consortium will not interfere in the operational business,” the new owners said.
“The acquisition aims to ensure the long-term availability of HERE products and services as an open, independent and creative platform for cloud-based maps and other services that will be accessible to all automotive customers,” they added.
Nokia's service earns most of its revenue by licensing its products that provide real-time traffic displays to many car manufacturers, including Toyota, Ford, Mazda, and Honda.
Car manufacturers that acquired Nokia's maps aspire to acquire the technology that will help them develop new assistance systems and fully autonomous driving.
With accurate digital maps that display traffic on the roads in real time, with location-based capabilities, along with high-precision cameras and sensors that will be present in modern cars, we will soon see cars with completely new capabilities.
“HERE will be able to offer users highly automated driving services. As the volume of anonymous data from vehicles increases, the services will become more convenient, and much more tailored to the individual needs of its users,” said Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the board of management of Audi Ulrich Hackenberg, Klaus Fröhlich of BMW and Thomas Weber of Daimler.
Nokia said it expects to receive about 2.5 billion euros from this sale, while the buyers have undertaken to repay 300 million euros in certain other liabilities of the company.
