Audi is open to other carmakers joining bidders for Nokia’s HERE
By Bloomberg
Audi is open to other carmakers joining the consortium bidding for Nokia Oyj’s HERE maps business, the automaker’s research and development chief Ulrich Hackenberg said.
“It’s important to ensure free availability of the data,” Hackenberg said on the sidelines of the Volkswagen AG luxury-car unit’s shareholder meeting in Neckarsulm, Germany. “Data management will play an important role in the future,” and geographical data is particularly interesting for carmakers, he said.
Audi is working together with BMW AG and Daimler AG on an approach for the mapping business, people familiar with the matter have said. HERE has drawn interest from a range of companies and buyout firms as a bidding war for the unit intensifies, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Uber Technologies Inc. is teaming up with Baidu Technologies Inc. and Apax Partners to pursue the unit, which may fetch as much as $4 billion, according to the people. Another group comprising China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd., NavInfo Co. and Swedish buyout firm EQT Partners AB is also said to be bidding.
It’s “too early to tell” if a private equity investor could join the carmaker consortium, Hackenberg said. He declined to comment further as the bidding process is still going on and talks are confidential.
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