Nokia Shares Edge Down on Bid Talks for Motorola Unit

Nokia (NOK) shares dipped slightly in premarket trading on speculation that its joint venture with Siemens AG would make a bid for Motorola's networking equipment division. Nokia Siemens Networks is considering a $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion bid for the Motorola unit, as a means to bolster its entry into the U.S., according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Motorola (MOT) announced plans in February to break its company into two, with its struggling mobile handset and cable set-top box television division as one company and its networking equipment division as another. According to the Journal report, a deal between the two parties could be struck in the next few weeks. That bodes well for Motorola, which has seen interest in its unit cool by Huawei Technologies, according to the report.

Nokia shares fell 0.35% to $8.53 a share in premarket trading.