Following approval from antitrust authorities, Nokia has closed the deal to sell its digital mapping and location business Here to a consortium of European automakers consisting of Audi, BMW, and Daimler.
Following the $2.8bn deal, the three partners each hold an equal stake in HERE.
Here provides navigation and mapping data, with the company also working on location cloud that leverages the data generated by vehicles, devices and infrastructure for providing real-time, predictive and personalised location services.
Currently, automakers are trying to introduce new features to cars by connecting them to smartphones, which has opened up a market for location-based services.
The consortium has not disclosed the details about how they plan to use the services offered by Here.
For Nokia, the closing of the deal is expected to help the company towards its transformation strategy, which includes focusing on its two core businesses, Nokia Networks and Nokia Technologies.
Nokia Networks will continue to provide broadband infrastructure software and services, while Nokia Technologies will deliver advanced technology development and licensing.
In 2014, Nokia sold its mobile handset business to Microsoft because it did not grow to be a sizeable portion of Nokia’s revenues.
