Microsoft may have offered to buy a minority stake in Nokia's HERE maps division, according to a new report. The mapping unit of the Finland-based company might also have a number of other buyout offers as well.
Bloomberg reports, via its unnamed sources, that Uber Technologies, which was previously rumored to have offered $3 billion to buy the HERE Maps division, is now teaming up with Baidu and Apax Partners in a joint offer. It adds:
"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."
Yet another group, this time composed of German car makers Audi AG, BMW AG and Daimler AG, is also interested in purchasing HERE maps. Other companies that Nokia has been rumored to have approached include Apple, Facebook and Alibaba. Bloomberg says that the final bids for the division are due in two weeks.
Source: Bloomberg
