Uber has submitted a bid for Here, the main competitor to Google Maps, for as much as $3 billion, according to three people with knowledge of the offer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Here is owned by Nokia, the Finnish telecom giant, which announced last month that it was considering selling the business.
Makes sense for Uber, but there’s stiff competition to purchase the mapping service.
Apple should buy this!
Does Uber have $3 Billion? I’m assuming this has to be a cash deal. Even if they do, the automakers can probably go higher than Uber can. If for no other reason than they’ll be better able to monetize the acquisition. If they’re not already using Here in the navigation systems (giving them a huge reason to pay whatever it takes), they can use it quite quickly to improve current revenue, and they can license it to other manufactures getting a rapid ROI.