Uber Joins Baidu as Nokia’s Maps Unit Draws Multiple Bidders (1)
2015-05-18 17:21:35.355 GMT
(Updates with names of carmakers from fourth paragraph.)
By Alex Sherman, Kiel Porter and Lulu Yilun Chen
(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. is teaming up with
Baidu Technologies Inc. and Apax Partners to pursue Nokia Oyj’s
maps business, people with knowledge of the matter said, as a
bidding war for the unit intensifies.
Another group, comprising China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.,
NavInfo Co. and Swedish buyout firm EQT Partners AB, is also
bidding for the unit, which may fetch as much as $4 billion,
three of the people said, asking not to be identified because
negotiations are private.
Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy a minority stake, while
three U.S. private-equity firms -- Hellman & Friedman, Silver
Lake Management and Thoma Bravo -- are also in the running, the
people said.
The next round of bids for the maps unit, known as HERE, is
due in two weeks, they said. Baidu, China’s largest search
engine, is partnering with Uber, the San Francisco-based taxi
challenger, to avoid regulatory scrutiny, one of the people
said. A group of German carmakers comprising Audi AG, BMW AG and
Daimler AG is also interested in the business, two of the people
said.
Representatives for Audi, Apax, Baidu, Daimler, EQT, HERE,
Hellman & Friedman, Microsoft, Nokia, Tencent, Silver Lake,
Thoma Bravo and Uber declined to comment. Calls to BMW
representatives weren’t returned.
Nokia’s U.S.-traded shares rose as much as 1.7 percent,
extending gains.
Nokia Refocusing
Nokia’s digital-maps business provides data to Amazon.com
Inc., Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc. and car-navigation systems for
companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. The
potential valuation suggests Nokia’s mapping assets have lost
value since 2008, when the company spent $8.1 billion to buy map
provider Navteq Corp.
Still, with bidders lining up, the potential value of the
sale could be climbing: as recently as April the company was
said to be seeking more than 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion). The
company had also sought bids from companies including Facebook
Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., people with knowledge of
the matter said last month.
Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, is seeking to sell the
mapping unit as it focuses on mobile-network equipment and
services to better compete with Huawei Technologies Co. Nokia
agreed to buy Alcatel-Lucent SA for 15.6 billion euros last
month to create the world’s largest supplier of equipment that
powers mobile-phone networks.
For Related News and Information:
Nokia Said to Weigh Sale of Maps Business to Focus on Networks
Nokia Said to Target Apple, Alibaba and Amazon in Maps-Unit Sale
Top Deal Stories: DTOP<GO>
--With assistance from Aaron Kirchfeld in London, Naomi Kresge
and Chris Reiter in Berlin, Adam Ewing in Stockholm, Christoph
Rauwald in Frankfurt, Dina Bass in Seattle and Eric Newcomer in
San Francisco.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Sherman in New York at +1-212-617-8278 or
asherman6@bloomberg.net;
Kiel Porter in London at +44-20-3525-2448 or
kporter17@bloomberg.net;
Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at +852-2977-4824 or
ychen447@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mohammed Hadi at +1-212-617-2914 or
mhadi1@bloomberg.net;
Aaron Kirchfeld at +44-20-3525-8830 or
akirchfeld@bloomberg.net
Elizabeth Fournier
2015-05-18 17:21:35.355 GMT
(Updates with names of carmakers from fourth paragraph.)
By Alex Sherman, Kiel Porter and Lulu Yilun Chen
(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. is teaming up with
Baidu Technologies Inc. and Apax Partners to pursue Nokia Oyj’s
maps business, people with knowledge of the matter said, as a
bidding war for the unit intensifies.
Another group, comprising China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.,
NavInfo Co. and Swedish buyout firm EQT Partners AB, is also
bidding for the unit, which may fetch as much as $4 billion,
three of the people said, asking not to be identified because
negotiations are private.
Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy a minority stake, while
three U.S. private-equity firms -- Hellman & Friedman, Silver
Lake Management and Thoma Bravo -- are also in the running, the
people said.
The next round of bids for the maps unit, known as HERE, is
due in two weeks, they said. Baidu, China’s largest search
engine, is partnering with Uber, the San Francisco-based taxi
challenger, to avoid regulatory scrutiny, one of the people
said. A group of German carmakers comprising Audi AG, BMW AG and
Daimler AG is also interested in the business, two of the people
said.
Representatives for Audi, Apax, Baidu, Daimler, EQT, HERE,
Hellman & Friedman, Microsoft, Nokia, Tencent, Silver Lake,
Thoma Bravo and Uber declined to comment. Calls to BMW
representatives weren’t returned.
Nokia’s U.S.-traded shares rose as much as 1.7 percent,
extending gains.
Nokia Refocusing
Nokia’s digital-maps business provides data to Amazon.com
Inc., Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc. and car-navigation systems for
companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. The
potential valuation suggests Nokia’s mapping assets have lost
value since 2008, when the company spent $8.1 billion to buy map
provider Navteq Corp.
Still, with bidders lining up, the potential value of the
sale could be climbing: as recently as April the company was
said to be seeking more than 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion). The
company had also sought bids from companies including Facebook
Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., people with knowledge of
the matter said last month.
Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, is seeking to sell the
mapping unit as it focuses on mobile-network equipment and
services to better compete with Huawei Technologies Co. Nokia
agreed to buy Alcatel-Lucent SA for 15.6 billion euros last
month to create the world’s largest supplier of equipment that
powers mobile-phone networks.
For Related News and Information:
Nokia Said to Weigh Sale of Maps Business to Focus on Networks
Nokia Said to Target Apple, Alibaba and Amazon in Maps-Unit Sale
Top Deal Stories: DTOP<GO>
--With assistance from Aaron Kirchfeld in London, Naomi Kresge
and Chris Reiter in Berlin, Adam Ewing in Stockholm, Christoph
Rauwald in Frankfurt, Dina Bass in Seattle and Eric Newcomer in
San Francisco.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Sherman in New York at +1-212-617-8278 or
asherman6@bloomberg.net;
Kiel Porter in London at +44-20-3525-2448 or
kporter17@bloomberg.net;
Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at +852-2977-4824 or
ychen447@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mohammed Hadi at +1-212-617-2914 or
mhadi1@bloomberg.net;
Aaron Kirchfeld at +44-20-3525-8830 or
akirchfeld@bloomberg.net
Elizabeth Fournier