14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like the entire HERE saga that keeps going for a few months now is about to end, as the final bids for Nokia's maps business will be landed this week.
But that's not the only reason we will finally see Nokia announcing the winner of the bidding. According to Bloomberg, the Finnish company already has a preferred bidder among the companies that are trying to convince it to sell.
It's not Uber or Baidu, but a group of German carmakers, which consists of Audi AG, BMW AG and Daimler AG. The reason for which it took Nokia so long to finally sell its HERE Maps subsidiary was the price it wants for it.
Sources close to the matter, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private, claim that Nokia is putting pressure on the German carmakers to increase their bid up to the amount of $4 billion (€3.52 billion).
The pressure comes from the fact that Nokia continues to accept bids from other major companies like Apax, Uber and Baidu, until the German carmaker bit the right amount.
Baidu is now looking to team up with the German carmakers
For those who don't remember, previous reports claimed Baidu, Uber and Apax have joined forces in an attempt to convince Nokia to sell HERE.
However, since the Finnish company seems to prefer the German carmakers, Baidu is now said to be looking to team up with them. If successful, then Baidu will be able to expand its mapping business in China, an insider confirmed.
Since the German carmakers have hesitated to pay as much as $4 billion (€3.52 billion) for HERE until now, perhaps Baidu will lend the group a hand to reach Nokia's goal.
None of the parties involved commented on these speculations, but since this is the last week of bidding, we expect Nokia to announce the winner pretty soon.