BackFinnish benchmark index jumps on Nokia deal
Nokia shares rise as much as 48% after Microsoft agreed to buy its handset business for €5.44 billion
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Copenhagen: The Nasdaq OMX Helsinki 25 index, a gauge of Finland’s benchmark stocks, soared the most in 21 months, lifted by Nokia Oyj’s sale of its handset business to Microsoft Corp..
The index rose as much as 4.7%, the most since 28 November 2011. The gauge advanced 3.9% to 2,518.31 at 11:00 am local time in the Finnish capital, adding €6.26 billion ($8.25 billion) in value from Monday. The gain made it Tuesday’s biggest winner among Europe’s benchmark stock indexes.
Nokia shares jumped as much as 48% on Tuesday, the most on record, after Microsoft Corp. agreed to buy its handset business and license its patents for €5.44 billion. Even after Tuesday’s gain, Nokia—once Finland’s most valuable company—has lost more than 90% of its share value since a 2000 peak after losing ground to US rivals.
With Tuesday’s surge, the Nasdaq OMX Helsinki 25 index has jumped about 14% this year. That compares with a 5.1% gain in the Euro Stoxx 50 Index and an 11% advance in the Stoxx Nordic 30 Index. Nokia shares are up 40% this year.
Nokia, based in the Finnish city of Espoo, was once the world’s largest smartphone maker with more than 50% of the market before Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android smartphone operating system were introduced about six years ago. Tuesday’s deal will leave Nokia mainly as a network equipment maker. The devices and services business generated about 50% of Nokia’s net sales during 2012, worth an estimated €15 billion, the companies said.
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