Nokia and NAVTEQ have announced a definitive agreement for Nokia to acquire NAVTEQ. Under the terms of the agreement, Nokia will pay $78 in cash for each share of NAVTEQ including outstanding options for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $8.1 billion (euro 5.7 billion), or approximately $7.7 billion (euro 5.4 billion) net of NAVTEQ existing cash balance. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals and NAVTEQ shareholders’ approval.
The navigation area is a fast-growing business, and with location-based services expanding rapidly into mobilecommunications devices, the industry is poised for even further growth. NAVTEQ is a provider of comprehensive digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internetbased mapping applications, and government and business solutions.
NAVTEQ also owns Traffic.com, a Web and interactive service that provides traffic information and content to consumers. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985, generated 2006 revenues of $582 million, and has approximately 3000 employees located in 168 offices in 30 countries.
Nokia is the world’s largest mobile device manufacturer, with more than 900 million people using a Nokia mobile device around the world. Driven by Internet and digital convergence, Nokia is expanding its offering to include areas such as entertainment, communities, and location-based services.
“Location-based services are one of the cornerstones of Nokia’s Internet services strategy. The acquisition of NAVTEQ is another step toward Nokia becoming a leading player in this space,” says Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s president and CEO. “By joining forces with NAVTEQ, we will be able to bring context and geographical information to a number of our Internet services with accelerated time to market. We also look forward to maintaining and enhancing the services and support provided to NAVTEQ’s existing and future customers.”
After completion of the transaction, NAVTEQ’s current map data business will continue operationally independent, but organizationally a Nokia Group company.