Nokia announced that it has completed a 5-year 500 million EUR loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to part-finance software R&D projects during 2009-2011 to make Symbian-based smartphones more competitive.
Apparently, the R&D activities supported by this loan will also benefit the work of the Symbian Foundation, which is expected to start operations before the end of H1 2009.
The new loan follows Nokia’s successful launch last month of its inaugural Euro Bond transaction that raised 1.75 billion EUR for the company. The proceeds of that bond issuance are being used to repay existing short-term borrowings, hence strengthening Nokia’s financial flexibility.