Nokia looking to sell luxury Vertu handset arm for €200m

Handset manufacturer it talks to offload subsidiary for around €200 million as it looks for a turnaround in its devices division

Nokia is reportedly in talks to sell its luxury handset arm Vertu to private equity group Permira for around €200 million (£164.5 million).

The Finnish handset manufacturer is looking to dispose of non-core assets to spark a transformation in its devices division. Goldman Sachs is advising Nokia on the sales process.

A separate private equity group, EQT, has also been in talks about buying the group but these are reportedly not progressing at this stage.

Nokia launched UK-based Vertu as an independently managed luxury subsidiary in 1998 to target wealthy customers. The phones are made by hand, and cost more than £200,000 due to the precious metal components.

Last month Nokia posted losses of £1.1 billion for the first quarter of this year compared to a profit of £369 million in the same three month period a year earlier.