NSN Fails to Find New Investor

After months of negotiations, Nokia Networks isn't getting any private equity investments, at least for now, its parents announced Wednesday. (See Euronews: Plan B for NSN Sale and Euronews: NSN Stake Bids Fall Away.)

NSN said the "review for assessing private equity interest" in NSN was over and that Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; Frankfurt: SIE) were "in the best position to further enhance the value of the company."

The news didn't please Nokia's investors, as the troubled Finnish mobile giant's stock dipped 3.35 percent to €4.04 on the news. Siemens, meanwhile, wasn't rocked in the same way as its stock is up 0.7 percent today to €93.69.

NSN noted that its revenues have been increasing during the past three quarters (based on year-on-year comparisons) and that it has reported operating profits (before one-time charges) for the past five quarters. (See Nokia Posts Q1 and Signs of Growth at NSN.)

In addition, NSN noted that it "plans to take further steps to improve the competitiveness of the company as a standalone entity." The company could not be immediately reached for additional comment on what these further steps might include.

NSN has recently expanded with the acquisition of mobile infrastructure assets from Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) (See NSN Finally Seals $975M Moto Deal.)

The question now is, what next? Further expansion through M&A activity? Or maybe an IPO? We'll put these questions to NSN people as soon as we can get them on the phone.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading