Nokia Explores Sale of Managed Services Business

(Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj is weighing a sale of its managed services business, people familiar with the matter said.

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The Finnish telecommunications company is working with advisers to gauge interest from potential suitors, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. The unit generates annual revenue of about 500 million euros ($510 million) and is expected to draw interest from private equity firms, according to the people.

Nokia’s managed services business sits within its Cloud and Network Services division. It offers communication services providers everything from network maintenance to data management.

Shares in Nokia rose as much as 2.3% on Friday. The stock was up about 1% at 10:25 a.m. in Helsinki, giving the company a market value of 28.8 billion euros.

Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty that Nokia will decide to proceed with a disposal, they said. A representative for Nokia declined to comment.

Pekka Lundmark, Nokia’s chief executive officer, has been working to turn around the company since mid-2020 with a focus on restructuring and adding resources to product development. Earlier this year, he said Nokia had moved into the “accelerate phase” of this strategy, with the aim of boost growth and margin expansion.

On Thursday, the company reported better than-expected earnings and indicated it’s on track to meet full-year guidance amid strong demand for 5G gear.

(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph.)

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