The most stylish and luxurious brand of Nokia, Vertu has reportedly been sold off. Nokia sold Vertu for an undisclosed amount which is said to be settling somewhere around $250-$300 million to a private equity firm EQT. The Nokia Vertu handset pictured just a day or two ago which was supposed to have Windows 8
Apollo now seems to have to future with the same.
Nokia has sold 90 per cent of the stakes and retained a minor shareholding of 10 percent in the luxury brand.
The President of Vertu Perry Oosting said, “This is a logical next step in the evolution of Vertu as the world leader in luxury mobile products”. He also added that since the time Vertu began in 1998, it has helped them boost their business almost every year. This could happen only due to the efforts of their workforce and the unique products and services that they offered. “We believe that EQT VI will position Vertu to continue to grow and lead in our marketplace,” Oosting added.
This step is taken to rid of Nokia’s non-kernal assets and concentrate more on Windows Phone. It has been facing escalating loss with the surrounding competition given by Apple, HTC and Samsung. Their share losses have been unhidden and candid. Despite giving up on the most receptive and splendid brand of phone which is made of precious metals and studded with stones, Nokia is still heard of planning to furlough almost 10,000 of its employees and transform and shuffle the executive team by the end of next year to keep the ship sailing.
In an official statement that was issued Nokia said “Nokia has agreed terms for EQT VI, part of the leading private equity group in Northern Europe, to acquire Vertu, the global leader in luxury mobile phones from Nokia”.
For all those who have never heard of virtue, which is no surprise given the cost of these handsets, Vertu is a luxury brand of smart phones, that let you have crystal displays and shiny diamond studded keypads. Yes, it makes little sense for anyone to be purchasing that but reportedly it fetched Nokia about 200 Million euros an year thanks to people looking for collectible items. Alongside the Porche Blackberry, Vertu is one of the last few standing luxury brands in the phone world, so it would be definitely interesting as to what the future would hold for the brand.
