As mounting losses deplete cash, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) has turned to selling off assets it feels are no longer core to its operations.
In announcements today, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) has sold a clutch of about 500 patents to Vringo, a U.S. firm that deals in mobile technology and intellectual property. Separately, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) also sold its Qt software operations to Finnish IT company, Digia Oyj. The sale to Vringo will realize $22 million and a share of future revenues from the patents. The deal amount with Digia was not made public.
The asset sales come in the wake of a huge restructuring program, designed by Nokia to cut about 10,000 jobs and reduce non-core assets. The company lost a massive $1.9 billion dollars in its second quarter.
In the other deal, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) sold off its cross-platform Qt software unit to Digia, a firm dealing in software solutions and services. Nokia obtained Qt in a 2008 purchase, and the unit lost its relevance after Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) moved to tie up with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) for its Windows Phone software. Though the amount was not disclosed, it may not be more than a fraction of what Nokia paid for it in 2008.
According to Digia, “Following the acquisition, Digia plans to quickly enable Qt on Android, iOS, and Windows 8 platforms.”