Nokia is Pivoting Into Digital Health by Acquiring Withings
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Nokia is to acquire French health tech and wearables company Withings for €170 million ($191 million), all cash. The deal is expected to close in early Q3 this year.
Withings was founded in 2008. It develops health and fitness tracking and monitoring devices like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and baby monitors.
The deal is still awaiting approval from regulators, but if passed, it will see the French company join OZO, makers of high end VR cameras, as one of Nokia’s latest acquisitions as the one-time phone giant begins to reinvent itself after selling off its phone division to Microsoft a few years ago.
The acquisition marks Nokia official entry into the digital health industry. Rajeev Suri, president and CEO of Nokia stated: “We have said consistently that digital health was an area of strategic interest to Nokia, and we are now taking concrete action to tap the opportunity in this large and important market.
“With this acquisition, Nokia is strengthening its position in the Internet of Things in a way that leverages the power of our trusted brand, fits with our company purpose of expanding the human possibilities of the connected world, and puts us at the heart of a very large addressable market where we can make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives.”
