Symbiosis60

I don’t think anyone saw this one coming but I opened up my google news today and was greeted by a news that Nokia is set to acquire Chicago based Navteq. This means that Nokia will become a MAJOR player in the GPS market. GO NOKIA. Below is an excerpt from Bloomberg’s article.

Nokia to Acquire Navteq for $8.1 Billion in Cash (Update1)
By Juho Erkheikki

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest mobile-phone company, agreed to buy Navteq Corp., the biggest maker of maps used in car-navigation equipment, for $8.1 billion in cash to add more data services.

Nokia will pay $78 a share, the companies said in a statement issued on the Hugin newswire. The bid is 34 percent higher than Navteq’s price a month ago, the companies said. Navteq closed at $77.97 on Sept. 28.

A purchase of Chicago-based Navteq, the world’s biggest maker of maps used in car-navigation equipment, would help Nokia add more features to its phones to attract customers. Sales of personal mapping devices will triple to $12.8 billion by 2010 over four years, according to iSuppli Corp., a research firm. Espoo, Finland-based Nokia already is adding music and games.