The saga of Nokia Health seems to be coming to a close as the company announced exclusive negotiations with a potential buyer. Surprisingly, the former Withings company could be going back to the people it was bought from.
Nokia announced that it is now in talks with Withings co-founder and former Chairman Éric Carreel. Details of the talks are unclear; including if the Finnish company ever listened to offers from other interested parties like Google and Samsung.
An exit from the consumer business has been on the cards for Nokia for some time now. The healthcare division struggled to make a profit, turning up losses for four quarters in a row. Something that even a company like Nokia couldn’t afford to maintain; even if the ultimate goal was to collect user information to rival Apple’s HealthKit.
The deal with Carreel is expected to be completed by the end of this quarter, and will likely see the health division returned to its original owner. What happens then is anyone’s guess.
Nokia was expected to be pressured by the French government to find a local buyer for the division. Seeing that Withings was once a French company and is still based in the country. That doesn’t appear to have happened, but things seem to have worked out for all parties involved.
[Source: Nokia]
