Daimler, BMW, Audi Take Over Nokia’s HERE for $3.2 Billion

After selling its Devices and Services unit to Microsoft last year, Nokia is now giving up on the next most valuable asset, the HERE mapping division that’s currently available cross-platform but also bundled into a number of other solutions, such as Garmin devices.

Reuters is reporting that a group of German premium carmakers, including Daimler, BMW, and Audi, agreed to take over the HERE division for $3.2 billion (€2.9 billion) but an announcement in this regard is yet to be provided by any of the involved parties. The deal, however, is not at all surprising, as a consortium of German car manufacturers was said to be involved in HERE takeover negotiations last month, with various reports claiming that Nokia was willing to drop the asking price in order to reach an agreement sometime this summer.

What’s more, some of these carmakers are already using HERE solutions on their mapping services, including BMW, so taking over the whole business would be a long-term investment that would cut licensing prices and make them available on a broader range of car models.

Several interested buyers, price too big

Since Nokia announced its intention to sell the HERE division, several companies have expressed their interest in taking it over, but the price set by the Finnish company was reportedly too big, so most decided to end negotiations because of this. HERE, originally known as NAVTEQ, was purchased by Nokia in 2007 and rebranded as Ovi Maps, and then renamed to Nokia Maps in 2011. The final rebranding to HERE was announced in November 2012, when Nokia was still doing pretty well with Stephen Elop, former Microsoft executive, at the helm of the company.

The HERE app is now available on the majority of mobile platforms, including Windows Phone, Android, and iOS, but also on the web on HERE.com. It’s not clear what will happen with all these apps after the takeover by German car manufacturers, but it’s believed that apps will continue to be available on mobile platforms, while premium services could be offered exclusively on their car models.

Nokia sells HERE for $3 billion
Image credits to Nokia

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