An automaker consortium made up of Audi, BMW and Daimler is now the proud owner of Nokia’s Here Maps division.
Initially announced this past August and scheduled to close sometime in 2016, the deal has been cleared by regulators in the U.S., Europe and Asia faster than expected. The three automakers managed to outbid other interested parties like Uber by agreeing to pay €2.8 billion (approximately $4.1 billion CAD) for the service.
From a mobile perspective, the deal is interesting because it allows Nokia to focus on other ambitions. The company obviously has a flourishing network business, which it has taken measures to further bolster with the pending acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, though 2016 could also be the year Nokia makes its return to the mobile market.
Nokia signed a non-compete deal with Microsoft after it sold its handset division to the company. That deal is set to expire in 2016, which has led most to speculate Nokia is already working on devices to announce and release next year.
[via]TechCrunch[/via]
