Nokia and Psion start procedures to enable transfer of Symbian shares from Motorola
August 29, 2003
Nokia, Psion plc and Motorola Inc. have started procedures to enable the transfer
of shares of Symbian Ltd. from Motorola's U.K. subsidiary, Motorola Ltd., to Nokia
and Psion plc. Symbian Ltd. is an independent software licensing company that develops
and licenses the Symbian OS (operating system).
On completion of the transaction, Nokia estimates to increase its shareholding from
approximately 19% up to approximately 32% and Psion is anticipated to increase its
ownership to approximately 31%. The proposed transfer will not affect Motorola's
existing licensing arrangement with Symbian.
"The investment shows Nokia's continued support to Symbian as a strong independent
software licensing company and to its stable development as smart phones move towards
the volume market. Symbian has proven that it is fully able to meet the different
needs of its licensees by providing the most optimized operating system for feature
rich mobile devices," says Pertti Korhonen, executive vice president, Nokia Mobile
Software.
"As a Symbian licensee, Motorola will continue to support the Symbian OS for specific
customer and business needs, such as in our 3G devices. However, our primary software
focus for the mass market will stay centered on Java, which is also supported by
Symbian. We believe Java is what ultimately provides our customers worldwide with
the most optimized and differentiated mobile experiences," said Scott Durchslag,
corporate vice president of Motorola's Personal Communications Sector.
Nokia and other industry leaders founded Symbian in 1998. The Symbian OS has become
a widely adopted operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile devices. Furthermore,
the Series 60 Platform is built on the Symbian OS. Series 60 is a terminal software
product that Nokia licenses to handset manufacturers, such as Panasonic, Samsung,
Sendo, Siemens and Nokia Mobile Phones. These companies are also licensees of the
Symbian OS.
The intended transactions are subject to a clearance by German Federal Cartel Office
and to a pre-emption procedure among the other shareholders of Symbian. These procedures
have been started by the actions of Nokia, Psion plc and Motorola Ltd., and are
expected to be completed within the coming weeks. The transaction implies a value
for Symbian as a whole of GBP 300 million (approx. EUR 427 million).
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation,
user-friendliness and reliable solutions, the company has become the leading supplier
of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks.
By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies
and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company
with listings on six major exchanges.