Nokia, the world's leading maker of mobile phones, said today it had agreed to buy US digital mapmaker Navteq for €5.7 billion.
The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of the two companies but remains subject to regulatory approvals and Navteq shareholders' approval, Nokia said.
'The navigation area is a fast-growing business, and with location-based services expanding rapidly into mobile communications devices, the industry is poised for even further growth," Nokia said.
Navteq provides comprehensive digital map information for car navigation systems, mobile navigation devices and Internet-based mapping applications.
The Chicago-based group offers digital maps for 69 countries on six continents that can be read by most navigation systems available in North America and Europe.
