Rumours that European vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) could be put up for sale are gathering pace as its German part owner reportedly sounds out private equity firms.
Siemens, which owns NSN with Finland’s Nokia, has approached buyout funds…
Rumours that European vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) could be put up for sale are gathering pace as its German part owner reportedly sounds out private equity firms.
Siemens, which owns NSN with Finland’s Nokia, has approached buyout funds including TPG, Blackstone and KKR about a sale of the whole venture or its 50% stake, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Nokia is also considering buying out Siemens from the venture, which in total could be worth more than €7bn including its debt, added the report.
The JV owners declined to comment on the speculation, which comes three months after Siemens CFO Joe Kaeser appeared to indicate it could exit the group this year.
Kaeser told a BofA Merrill Lynch investor conference in late March that NSN was not a business it had any aspirations of staying in.
“I do believe that 2013 will be the time for Siemens to help NSN to move into a better place,” he said.
The sale speculation is also being fuelled by the termination of a shareholder clause in April, which had prevented Siemens from selling its stake without Nokia’s permission.
NSN’s owners failed to find a buyer when they last shopped the asset in 2011, forcing them to inject €1bn of equity to keep the venture afloat.
The vendor has since embarked upon a significant cost cutting programme. In an indication that this restructuring was starting to bear fruit, the JV was able to price €800m worth of upsized notes at par earlier this year.
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