US technology major Microsoft, the owner of Nokia’s mobile device business, has agreed to sell the latter’s branding rights to Finnish firm HMD Global and contract manufacturer Foxconn for $350 million.
“To complete its portfolio of Nokia branding rights, HMD announced on Wednesday that it has conditionally agreed to acquire from Microsoft the rights to use the Nokia brand on feature phones and certain related design rights. The Microsoft transaction is expected to close in H2 of 2016,” Nokia said in a statement. In a separate agreement, Nokia Technologies will grant HMD Global Oy (HMD), a newly-founded company based in Finland, the exclusive global licence to create Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets for the next 10 years.
Under the pact, Nokia Technologies will receive royalty payments from HMD for sales of Nokia-branded mobile products, covering both the brand and the intellectual property rights.