Taxi-booking app maker Uber has made a US$3 billion offer for Nokia’s Here mapping business.
This is according to anonymous sources cited by the New York Times last week, who claim that Uber faces competition from Chinese search engine Baidu, as well as German car makers Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.
A separate bid has also been lodged by an unknown private equity firm, the report said.
Nokia launched a strategic review of Here in mid-Apri, the same day it agreed to acquire rival network vendor Alcatel-Lucent in a deal worth €15.6 billion.
In addition to the aforementioned suitors, Facebook was also named as a possible buyer of what has emerged to become a more-than-worthy competitor to Google Maps, particularly in the automotive space.
Indeed, four out of five in-car navigation systems in Europe and North America use Nokia’s Here technology, and in 2014, 13 million cars were sold with Here maps on board.
Nonetheless, Nokia reportedly wants to sell the mapping business so that it can focus on its network division.
According to the New York Times’ sources, Nokia is expected to select a preferred buyer at the end of May.
