U.S. Clears Audi, BMW, Mercedes on Plan to Buy Nokia’s Mapping Business

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has granted antitrust approval to Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz to acquire Nokia Corp.'s Here mapping business.

The €2.8 billion deal was announced in August. The partners hope to finalize the sale early next year. Nokia created Here when it acquired Navteq in 2008 but signaled in April it wanted to focus on building communications networks.

The three German carmakers each will hold one-third shares in Here, which competes with Google Maps in the emerging market for highly accurate maps. The acquisition is seen as an effort by the companies to defend their ability to control and profit from advanced connectivity features and self-driving cars capabilities in their vehicles.