BMW, Audi, VW discuss with the sale of Nokia HERE – Le Figaro

A consortium of Mercedes-Benz (Daimler), BMW and Audi (Volkswagen Group) is close to repurchase Nokia’s HERE mapping subsidiary for 2.5 to three billion euros but it remains to evacuate patent issues have told Reuters on Tuesday two sources familiar with the matter.

The transaction, which would be finalized by the end of the month if the issue of intellectual property is set, could also include a commitment to invest in the future improving the quality of the map data, added the two sources.

connected and autonomous cars, which are connected to mobile networks, can perform functions such as recalculating a route if they receive information about a plug or an accident, information update their mapping system.

The new vehicles could represent a market of $ 50 billion, according to analysts of Exane BNP Paribas and already is one of the important points of any discussion for a transaction, say sources in the automotive industry.

The German automobile consortium wants

to buy all of Nokia’s mapping patents while the Finnish group wants to keep some, relating to mobile devices dialogue processes with networks, whether computers, combined or connected cars.

Nokia, Daimler, BMW and Audi have declined to comment.

An industry source told Reuters that an agreement by the end of the month was possible but not guaranteed.

HERE is a segment leader in digital high definition cards and automobile already represents more than half of its sales.

For Nokia, keep patents governing the Network Location Awareness face him give weight to his rivals Ericsson and Huawei in discussions to define the 5G standards of the future.