Nokia to sell mapping services unit to consortium of German carmakers

The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.

Although HERE has been valued at €2.8 billion, Nokia expects to recieve a little over €2.5 billion, due to the purchasers being compensated for “certain defined liabilities” within the asset.

Although much less commonly known among the general public, “HERE” has a solid list of industrial and internet clients.

As expected, Nokia has announced the sale of its HERE mapping service to a consortium of automakers, including Audi, BMW and Daimler.

Upon closing of the transaction, Nokia will consist of two businesses: Nokia Networks and Nokia Technologies. It’s not yet clear what the companies plan to do with HERE maps, although they’re clearly interested in developing their own in-car satnav with the technology.

In an announcement on Monday’s a consortium of German automakers said that they are acquiring HERE map business from Nokia Corp. “With the acquisition of Here, we want to ensure the independence of this key service for vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and consumers in other industries, “said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes“.

“Going forward we can focus on our planned combination with Alcatel-Lucent”, he said, referring to Nokia’s acquisition of its French competitor rival earlier this year. HERE President Sean Fernback said that the new owners “will allow us to accelerate our strategy,” and help to scale the business.

One obvious benefit to this will be that future German cars, including Volkswagens and other cars from brands in that group, will more than likely have in-car satellite navigation systems driven by Here Maps.

The auto makers will benefit from HERE’s high-definition real-time digital mapping technology with the ability to further their research on self-driving cars, and integrate connected services into their nect-generation vehicles.