Uber submits a bid to buy Nokia’s HERE mapping service for US$3bn

8 May 2015

Uber has submitted a US$3bn bid for Nokia's mapping service HERE

Taxi-hailing app player Uber has submitted a bid for Nokia’s HERE mapping service in a move that could see it reduce its dependence on Google.

Uber, which is currently valued at more than US$41bn, is increasingly morphing into being a competitor of Google, which ironically owns a share in the company.

Uber is currently looking at making self-driving cars, while at the same time Google is looking at developing a driverless taxi service.

Uber has submitted a bid for HERE for as much as US$3bn, according to The New York Times.

Uber will be competing with a rival bid from a consortium of German car makers including BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Other bids are on the table from Yahoo!, Samsung and Tencent.

Nokia is understood to be divesting certain assets. The Finnish mobile company last year sold off its mobile devices arm to Microsoft for US$8.5bn. In recent weeks, Nokia revealed plans to acquire Alcatel-Lucent for US$16.6bn.

Uber image via Shutterstock

 

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com