14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like Nokia's HERE maps business hasn't found a new owner yet, even though talks about its acquisition are underway for several weeks now. Obviously, that's not something unusual, since we're talking about a €2 billion ($2.2 billion) business.
In fact, according to the latest estimates, the HERE maps business is worth between €2 billion ($2.2 billion) and €4 ($4.4 billion), which makes it hard to find a buyer, it seems.
Nokia's HERE had quite a few bidders earlier this year, but three groups distinguished themselves from the pack: a consortium of German car makers, an alliance between Uber and China's Baidu, and a third group led by Chinese social network company Tencent.
During talks, it became obvious that the Finnish company preferred to sell its maps business to the German car makers, but only for the right price.
Now Reuters reports that the German car makers are in stand-off with Nokia over bid for HERE. The reason is simple and has something to do with the fact that Uber has just acquired some of Microsoft's Bing assets and absorbed 100 engineers.
This means that Uber has pulled out of the race and the consortium of German car makers doesn't feel compelled to offer a higher bid for Nokia's HERE maps business since there are fewer bidders now.
Talks are still underway
According to a source in the auto industry, who preferred to remain anonymous, “talks have not broken down, but they are at a delicate stage of brinkmanship.”
The consortium of German car makers includes companies like BMW, Daimler and Audi, which are big clients of HERE.
They can't let Nokia's maps business to be acquired by a rival technology company, since it could affect their access to high-definition maps, thus slowing their ability to expand in the area of connected cars.
There's one more player in the bidding process: private equity firm General Atlantic. The German car makers consortium has been in talks with General Atlantic for a possible financial help over HERE bid, but the firm is not part of the negotiating team yet.
However, the private equity firm could join the German car makers group at a later stage if the need arises, as a “neutral referee” with other potential partners.