The deal is expected to complete by the end of the year

Dec 4, 2012 10:12 GMT  ·  By

We reported about two months ago on the possibility of Nokia selling its Finnish headquarters and then renting them back.

At that time, Nokia’s Maija Taimi said that the company was “evaluating different options for non-core parts, such as real estate holdings, and that includes the headquarters.”

Analysts have estimated the value of Nokia’s HQ buildings at around 300 million EUR (390 million USD), though the actual selling price is much lower than the estimated figures.

Even though Nokia’s officials have said the company is only evaluating this possibility, it looks like the handset maker has already found a buyer willing to purchase its Espoo HQ and then lease it back.

Nokia has just announced that it has agreed to sell and lease back its head office building in Finland on a long-term lease. The buyer and leaser is another Finnish company, Exilion.

Exilion Capital Oy describes itself as “a company owned by four Finnish institutions specializing in the management of real estate private equity funds. The funds managed by Exilion Capital invest mainly in commercial and residential properties in Finland’s growth centres.”

The deal is expected to complete by the end of the year. Nokia has also confirmed that it sold its HQ buildings for only 170 million EUR (222 million USD).

“We had a comprehensive sales process with both Finnish and foreign investors and we are very pleased with this outcome. As we have said before, owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets. We are naturally continuing to operate in our head office building on a long-term basis,” said Timo Ihamuotila, CFO, Nokia.

Nokia’s Espoo HQ was designed by architect Pekka Helin. The Finnish handset maker has operated in these office buildings since 1997 and will continue to operate in the years to come thanks to the long-term lease agreement with Exilion.