France’s industrial conglomerate Safran recently announced that it is selling its loss-making mobile handset business, Sagem Mobiles, to French venture capital firm Sofinnova. The disposal would cost Safran 220 million EUR, but it would retain a 10% stake in the new company, which will be known as Sagem Wireless.
Apparently, Safran — which was formed in 2004 via a merger between Sagem and engineering company Snecma — has been looking to spin off Sagem’s handset business for years to refocus on its core aerospace and defense security activities.
Also as part of the agreement, provider of Java in-device engines and mobile services platforms Esmertec will acquire the mobile software platform activities of Sagem Mobiles. Furthermore, they (Esmertec) will provide Sagem Wireless with a mobile software platform and related services for a three-year period — a deal valued at 51 million EUR.
Finally, Purple Labs (where Sofinnova is also an investor), is also involved in the deal. The mobile Linux developer will provide the new company with all the software for its future 3G Linux devices based on LiMo Foundation requirements.
In a conclusion, guess this means we may finally see some decent Sagem mobile phones. Amen to that!
[Via: Reuters]