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Nokia poised to sell Vertu line

14 June 2012 12:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ali Ahmadov - APA-Economics. Nokia is poised to sell its Vertu line of luxury handsets to Swedish buyout group EQT in a deal worth about â‚¬200m, according to people close to the situation, APA reports citing Bloomberg.

The Finnish handset maker is shedding Vertu, which adorns Nokia phones with jewellery and sells them on for tens of thousands of pounds, as part of a wider effort to restructure the business after being overtaken by the likes of Apple and Samsung in the smartphone category.

UK-based Vertu was launched in 1998 to tap into growing demand for phones as status symbols, finding a niche in the Middle East and Asia.
Its annual revenues are estimated to be worth â‚¬200m-â‚¬300m, with â€œhigh double-digit growthâ€ in 2010 and 2011, according to Nokia.
EQTâ€™s UK-based private equity rival Permira had previously been in advanced talks to buy Vertu, but it declined to table a bid. Luxury goods companies looking to add to their portfolio of brands also expressed interest, people close to the sale process said.