Nokia Siemens Networks declined to comment on Wednesday about reports that Nokia and Siemens are in talks with private equity firms over a potential sale of the joint venture.
According to a report by Reuters earlier on Wednesday the kit maker is in discussions with two consortia; However, no deal emerged and attention was subsequently diverted to Nokia Siemens' struggle to close its acquisition of Motorola's networks assets following a complaint lodged by rival kit maker Huawei, and a lack of approval from China's antitrust authorities.
one consisting of The Gores Group and Platinum Equity, and the other comprised of TPG and KKR.
"It is not yet clear which parts of NSN any buyer would take over," said sources familiar with the matter. "The business still has to be restructured."
A spokeswoman for Nokia Siemens declined to comment on the report.
If the reports are confirmed, this would not be the first time that NSN has attracted private equity interest. Chief executive Rajeev Suri last August revealed he had received unsolicited approaches following reports that Nokia Siemens was in talks with buyout firms over selling a minority stake in the company.
Nokia CFO Timo Ihamuotila welcomed the attention, commenting in October that the company was willing to speak to parties that could inject additional capital into the handset maker's infrastructure arm.
However, no deal emerged and attention was subsequently diverted to Nokia Siemens' struggle to close its acquisition of Motorola's networks assets following a complaint lodged by rival kit maker Huawei, and a lack of approval from China's antitrust authorities.
Those two hurdles were cleared in April, and now speculation around a possible change in NSN's ownership structure has once again arisen.
(c) Total Telecom
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