Nokia Siemens can't find a suitable bidder for its business

TROUBLED NETWORK VENTURE Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has failed to find a bidder for its failing network infrastructure business.

NSN, which bids for large telecoms contracts the world over, reported losses close to $1bn for the last financial year and it has been no secret that both parties want to end the partnership. However the Wall Street Journal is reporting that NSN has been unable to reach a deal with bidders for a controlling stake in the venture.

Two private equity groups, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital already dropped out of the auction to take over from Nokia as the controlling partner in NSN. The WSJ is claiming that talks with two other private equity firms, Gores Group LLC and Platinum Equity LLC, "are unlikely to go anywhere".

NSN's future has been dragged through mud for over a year, and while the venture does bring in considerable revenue for both Nokia and Siemens, it doesn't make any real profit. However that hasn't stopped Nokia, which has four of the seven seats on NSN's board, form becoming uneasy about selling up to Gores Group LLC and Platinum Equity LLC, according to the WSJ.

In the past year NSN has faced stiff competition, especially from Chinese telecoms vendor Huawei when bidding for '4G' Long Term Evolution (LTE) contracts. Apparently, Siemens is so fed up with Nokia's inability to come up with a solution that WSJ's sources claim it could take control of NSN itself.

NSN's outlook mirrors that of its parent firm Nokia. The protracted drama over Nokia's inability to find a suitable buyer simply adds to the sense of doom and gloom surrounding the firm. µ