Nokia to buy smartwatch firm Withings for £131m

Nokia is buying digital health and wearables company Withings for €170 million (£131 million).

The deal, which Nokia said would be the start of "a new chapter" for the company, will create a digital health business within Nokia, headed by Withings CEO Cédric Hutchings.

"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," Rajeev Suri, Nokia's president, said in a statement.

Founded in 2008 Withings, based in France, has 200 staff in Paris and Massachusetts and Hong Kong.

The company produces a range of health and lifestyle products, including smartwatches, air monitors for houses, smart thermometers, and an Aura sensor that tracks your movements while you sleep.

According to Withings, the sale values it at €170m (£131m) and the deal is expected to be settled in cash in the third quarter of 2016, although this needs to be approved by regulators.
"We're excited to join Nokia and help bring our vision of connected health to more people around the world," Withings CEO Cédric Hutchings said in a statement.
In 2015 Microsoft, which purchased Nokia for $7.2bn in 2013, announced that 7,800 jobs would be axed and that $7.6bn would be written off after the deal failed to result in any significant new sales for Windows Phone devices. The layoffs followed the departure of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.

However, the company has made a comeback with its OZO virtual reality camera and its N1 Android tablet.