Mobile phone maker Nokia has moved to take control of the world's leading cellphone software
group, Symbian.
Nokia said it would buy around one-third of Symbian from Psion, with the British software firm to get an estimated £135.7 million ($250.7 million) in a deal that values all of Symbian at £436.2 million.
Nokia said the purchase pushes its stake to some 63 per cent in the venture, which it expects to be loss-making for the foreseeable future. The deal is expected to close in the coming months.
For handset makers, in an industry which expects to sell over 550 million phones in 2004, the takeover narrows their choice of suppliers for new software to two major players - Nokia and Microsoft.
Leading handset makers Samsung Electronics from South Korea and Germany's Siemens, as well as other handset makers, are Symbian shareholders, and the deal will force them to buy key software from a firm controlled by an rival.
The ownership change is the second in five months at Symbian after Motorola, the world's second-largest handset maker, pulled out, although it said it still planned to make phones based on Symbian software.
Symbian is the leader in making operating software for advanced mobile "smartphones" that run personal computer-style functions such as calendars, contact lists, games and e-mail on top of voice calls and other traditional features.
Nokia shares rose along with the market, up 1.9 per cent at €16.97, while the pan-European technology index was up 2.1 per cent. Shares in Psion shed one-third of their value to 63.75 pence, with some saying the price it got for the Symbian stake was too low.