Finland government buys a slice of Nokia The Finnish government has snapped up 3.3 per cent of Nokia Corporation in a bid to shore up national ownership. The €844m move by government-owned Solidium Oy will see Finnish hands exerting more influence on the networking specialist, something that unkind observers might suggest should have happened some time ago. Solidium …
"And yes, I work for Nokia, which is why I'm an AC..."
Likewise - I find it amazing that so many commetards manage to forget:
i) That articles in el Reg frequently mention that Nokia no longer makes cellphones
and,
ii) That there are occasional articles here (as recently as last week) that indicate pretty clearly that Nokia is not exactly trailing the field when it comes to telecommunications, among other things.
Yep, some people definitely need to look at the company's website before making silly comments.
They didn't invest, they took it over. It's a key sector as any you could name and ARM is corporation responsible for the CPUs in most of the devices on the planet. The UK should have blocked the takeover.
Note, not nationalise it or whatever some people here think that means.
What's wrong with having a sovereign wealth fund investing in a local company?
Nothing if they're a passive investor, holding a minority stake, and making clear that their stake is ALWAYS for sale for the right price. If they're an activist investor, then they think they can run the company better than the appointed management, so why pay the management, and why not go the whole hog and nationalise it?
Both Germany and France are protective of their "national champions", but having been involved with some of the companies concerned, I see no evidence that policy has been successful in terms of developing vibrant, innovative, customer focused companies. It has however been very effective in fostering a culture of entrenched and unassailable directors, and management imperialism that makes the British Empire look like a model of equality and multiculturalism.
"...having been involved with some of the companies concerned, I see no evidence that policy has been successful in terms of developing vibrant, innovative, customer focused companies..."
Yeah, too right, those completely useless Germans and French and their failing companies and failing economies, what did they ever do right?
Just look at the Great British economy, powering head with its egalitarian Fat Cat FTSE 100 directors, the companies and economy so strong that they don't need the help of French and German companies to run their railways for them, build cars and components....
Not only that, but the UK economy is so strong that it can cut off links with their European allies who just drag the whole British economy down...
COUGH, SPLUTTER...oh Lord(i), what do your overlords put in British water these days? Halucogenic drugs?!
Yeah, too right, those completely useless Germans and French and their failing companies and failing economies, what did they ever do right?
Exaggerating my comments and trying to portray me as some caricature of everything that you evidently despise might make you feel good, but I'll just conclude that you are a twat. An ad hominem for an ad hominem if you will.
Regarding economic performance France has 9% unemployment, compared to the UK's 4.3%. Germany is doing better than the UK, at 3.6%, but much of that is the locked in trading benefits of the misbegotten Euro, and Germany's gain is Italy's loss (11.1% unemployment) not to mention Spain (16.3). Note: All figures Jan 18, Eurostat data. My point however, that zoomed over your head, was that the national champions strategy is one that hasn't worked, anywhere ever. Sure, a state can prop up a chosen company, it can even make its products cheaper by subsidising them to give it a market advantage. But that can't last for ever.
And in your mad, Europhile splutterings, what makes you think that the directors of European listed companies are any different to their FTSE 100 counterparts? Last German owned company I worked for paid its boss twice that of the nearest UK equivalent, AND unlike the UK equivalent had seen its share price drop by 90% over five years due to its complacency and mismanagement Meanwhile, the nearest equivalent French company got pushed into a state-directed merger with the all but insolvent Areva, as part of the French government's "national champions" nonsense. God knows what they teach at the Ecole Polytechnique, it certainly isn't common sense.
"God knows what they teach at the Ecole Polytechnique, it certainly isn't common sense".
I would suggest Brits should be more concerned with what they teach at the Eaton school.
States invest in companies for many reasons. Sometimes for strategic reasons or should we say security, water, energy and such, and if possible, like that Buffet guy, for profit, not such a bad idea.
And sometimes because there is no better alternative. Areva is one such case, but as a Brit, keen on having a new nuclear power plant, you should be happy, because without the French with the Chinese you would have to turn to the Russians for a plant.
Lots of common sense in that decision by the French.
As for Nokia, it was a bit too big a company for a small country and the Finnish ownership was well under 10%, so I have nothing against this decision at all.
While I don't want to sound too British and go for the "fifth or sixth", Nokia is first or second in Europe and something in the world.
What else, I suppose we must agree that cheese eating frogs could not have surpassed the UK as an economic power due to said people. So where should we look, oh where should we look to sole this problem, should we look for common sense perhaps.
"Oh, dear. Nationalisation of telecoms company, is it? If it's like the old General Post Office, peeps can look forward to a 6 month wait before being judged worthy by Nokia of getting a party-line installed. "
WTF?? - have you got even the remotest idea of what Nokia actually does as a business?
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