Report: Nokia Corp. Getting Lots Of Interest For Maps Unit

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) might sell its maps business to a consortium of three German automakers while the unit is also drawing interest from Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Uber Technologies, according to a report Wednesday.Finland-based Nokia confirmed on April 15 that it was reviewing a possible sale of the mapping unit, called Here.https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/924613/000110465915027550/a15-9180_16k.htmSeparately, Nokia last week made a $16.6 billion all-stock offer for Alcatel Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU)Bloomberg had reported earlier that a group of German automakers and Uber were kicking tires at Nokia's map unit.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-10/nokia-said-to-weigh-sale-of-maps-business-to-focus-on-networksOn Wednesday, Germany's Manager Magazin said the automaker consortium includes BMW, Audi and Daimler.http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/it/deutsche-autohersteller-bieten-fuer-nokia-navigationssparte-a-1029790.htmlNokia's map unit has also drawn interest from the U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, according to the unconfirmed report, which was picked up by Reuters.http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/22/us-nokia-maps-idINKBN0ND0KW20150422Bloomberg earlier noted that Nokia values the unit at $2.1 billion and Manager Magazin said Wednesday that the German automaker group is "unprepared to pay much more than book value."Other published speculation on potential buyers has included Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).