Nokia and Siemens fail to find a deal to sell controlling stake in joint venture
NOKIA and Siemens failed to secure a deal for investors for a controlling stake in their unprofitable joint venture, according to weekend reports.
The companies, which could not be immediately reached for comment, are now weighing investing more money in the venture, which is called Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), the Wall Street Journal said in its electronic edition.
Talks to sell a controlling stake in the venture, which is the world’s No. 2 maker of wireless-networking gear, to a consortium that includes private-equity firms Gores Group and Platinum Equity, are not expected to succeed, the newspaper said.
Nokia and German industrial group Siemens merged their telecom equipment businesses on a 50-50 ownership basis in 2007 in a six-year deal, but the venture has struggled to make a profit.
Nokia and Siemens each owns half of the business, but Nokia holds four of the seven board seats. With Nokia Siemens Networks losing nearly $1bn (£63m) last year, the sale of a majority stake would boost Nokia’s results.