Nokia sells Finnish headquarters amid financial troubles
The beleaguered phone maker's CFO says the deal to sell and lease back its head office is expected to close by the end of this month.
Nokia said this morning that it will sell its head office in Espoo, Finland, to software consultancy firm Exilion for 170 million euros ($222 million).
The struggling phone maker said in a statement that it will lease back the head office at a lower price, but Nokia did not disclose any additional figures.
The move comes as the phone maker, which has suffered over the past year with poor quarterly financial results, continues to struggle in a market dominated by companies such as Apple and Samsung.
Nokia's chief financial officer, Timo Ihamuotila, said that the deal is in line with the company's aims to cut back on spending and to shed non-core activities, but noted that Nokia has no plans to move away from its Espoo headquarters anytime soon. The company will remain in the Finnish city "on a long-term basis," he added.
"Owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets," Ihamuotila said.
The firm said it expects to complete the sale by the end of 2012, less than four weeks away.
Nokia has announced 10,000 job cuts this year alone, along with plans to streamline the company's operations in a bid to save 1.6 billion euros by the end of 2013.
Nokia's third-quarter results showed a loss of 576 million euros and a decline in net sales of 19 percent year over year. Its cash reserves at the end of the quarter stood at 3.6 billion euros.