Nokia and Siemens are considering opening up their jointly-owned telecoms vendor to private equity investment, and are holding talks over a potential deal worth up to $1 billion.
With the NSN JV continuing to be a drain on both balance sheets, the owners believe an infusion of capital could aid turnaround efforts and pave the way for a possible IPO, executives from both companies told FT.com.
But both parties have committed to turning around the company, and will not seek to exit the venture before their JV agreement expires in 2013, they said. After this time, they will consider their options.
Investment firms Blackstone, Silver Lake Partners and Bain Capital are all thought to be interested in buying into NSN.
Siemens CFO Joe Kaeser said the JV had become “more attractive” to investors after cost-cutting and its $1.2 billion acquisition last month of Motorola’s network business.
Potential investors have approached NSN unsolicited, so it is possible that no deal will be reached, he added.