Ever since Nokia put its HERE mapping service on the market, everyone and their mother has been trying to get their hands on it. It’s not just technology giants like Amazon and Apple that are interested either, it looks like rumors that a trio of German automakers were looking to snag the mapping service were true, as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes have reportedly joined forces to put forth their own bid for HERE maps.
There have been severe speculations and multiple rumors about the future of Nokia’s HERE unit that deals with maps and navigation, ever since Nokia made it amply clear that they are looking to offload the business. Several names have made the rounds as possible buyers, including Apple, Amazon, Alibaba, Baidu, Sirius XM, Tenecent, Facebook and Uber among others. There have also been strong rumors that German automakers Audi, BMW, and Mercedes are seriously interested in buying the mapping business from Nokia. Looks like that last rumor may have some amount of truth to it, as earlier today, Reuters reported that the three aforementioned rival car manufacturers have apparently joined forces with private equity firm General Atlantic to bid for HERE maps in an effort to buying it from the embattled Finnish telecom equipment maker. Estimates put the value of Nokia’s HERE business unit to be anywhere between $2 billion and $4 billion. HERE is the combination of Nokia’s mapping and navigation software assets under a single brand, some of which it got by acquiring GPS based navigation company Navteq for $8.1bn in 2008.
