Finnish government acquires stake in Nokia

The Finnish government has acquired a three per cent stake in Nokia in a bid to strengthen the country’s ownership in the company.

Nokia is Finland’s largest company and therefore seen as an important target for the Solidium Oy, the State of Finland’s investment arm, which has investments worth €8.4 billion. 

It has purchased 3.3 percent of Nokia for €844 million, meaning the firm accounts for 10 percent of its total holdings.

The idea is to “stabilise” Finnish control of nationally important companies and grow the value of its investments to the benefit of the taxpayer.

Nokia and Finland

"The divestment of our stake in [mobile operator] Telia in the beginning of the year made it possible for us to invest into Nokia, which fits perfectly into Solidium's portfolio,” said Solidium CEO Antti Mäkinen.

“The appealing factors for us are the company's strong market position combined with broad technological expertise, which provides opportunities for value creation. In line with our mandate, we hereby strengthen and stabilize the domestic ownership in this nationally very important company."

Nokia’s fall from grace as the world’s largest and most influential mobile phone manufacturer is well documented. It sold its devices and services business to Microsoft in 2013, while a consortium of car makers bought its HERE maps division.

The current Nokia sells telecommunications network equipment and is a major player in the industry following the merger with Alcatel Lucent.

However Nokia’s decline affected the entire Finnish economy, while Microsoft’s retreat from the mobile hardware industry resulted in savage job losses. Nokia was forced to cut some positions last year and cease development of its OZO VR camera technology.

Smartphones bearing the Nokia brand are still being made by HMD Global, which has revived a number of classic designs, such as the Nokia 3310.

Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media. 

Latest in Phone & Communications
GlocalMe KeyTracker
When I tested this global tracker, it trounced the Apple AirTag in so many ways
Privacy Hero II
Privacy Hero II VPN Router
ThinkPhone 25 by Motorola
I reviewed the ThinkPhone 25 by Motorola and while it's not as fast as its predecessor, it's the superior phone in so many ways
FRITZ!Box 7690 WiFi 7 Router
FRITZ!Box tries to embrace both business and home customers with its new 7690 router
Ulefone Armor Pad 4 Ultra Thermal
Other than screen reflection, I’m still looking for the downside to the Ulefone Armor Pad 4 Ultra Thermal tablet
Unihertz Tank Pad 8849
Carrying the Unihertz Tank Pad 8849 provided me with a full workout
Latest in News
Citroen 2CV
The retro EV resurgence is in full swing, as Citroen confirms the iconic 2CV will return with batteries
Hugging Snap
This AI app claims it can see what I'm looking at – which it mostly can
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max REVIEW
The latest batch of leaked iPhone 17 dummy units appear to show where glass meets metal on the new designs
Hornet swings their weapon in mid air
Hollow Knight: Silksong could potentially launch this year and I reckon it could be a great game for an Xbox handheld
ransomware avast
Ransomware attacks are costing Government offices a month of downtime on average
Cassian looking at someone off-camera from a TIE fighter cockpit in Andor season 2
Star Wars: Andor creator is taking a stance against AI by canceling plans to release its scripts, and I completely get why