Nokia and Accenture finalize Symbian software d...
Nokia Corporation
Stock exchange release
June 22, 2011 at 09:00 (CET +1)
Espoo, Finland - Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) have finalized an
agreement for Nokia to outsource Symbian software development and support
activities to Accenture. Plans of the agreement were first announced on April
27, 2011.
Under the agreement, Accenture will provide Symbian based software development
and support services to Nokia through 2016. Approximately 2,800 Nokia employees
located in China, Finland, India, United Kingdom and the United States, are
expected to transfer to Accenture at closing, which is expected to take place in
the early part of October, 2011.
"We look forward to partnering with Nokia as they continue to support Symbian
and transition to the Windows Phone ecosystem," said Marty Cole, chief
executive, Accenture Communications and High Tech group. "The highly skilled
group of technologists and engineers transferring to Accenture will complement
our current mobility skills and enhance the breadth, depth and scale of our
capabilities, allowing us to meet the growing global demand for mobility
services across many industries."
The agreement calls for Accenture to support and further develop Nokia's Symbian
platform and to become the preferred supplier to Nokia on their transition to
Windows Phone. Accenture will seek opportunities to leverage transferring
employee skills and capabilities to provide mobility software, business and
operational services around the Windows Phone platform to Nokia and other
ecosystem participants. Accenture will also seek to retrain and redeploy
transferred employees.
"Our collaboration with Accenture allows us to meet our ongoing commitment to
support our Symbian smartphone customers and continue to leverage the talent
that has the deepest experience on the platform," said Jo Harlow, executive vice
president for Smart Devices, Nokia. "As we move our primary smartphone platform
to Windows Phone, we will look to explore potential opportunities to tap this
talent pool as they develop and expand their knowledge and capabilities beyond
Symbian."
Accenture will also work with Avanade, a technology service company that is
majority-owned by Accenture and focuses on Microsoft technologies, to provide
further services to Nokia.
The definitive agreement includes customary closing conditions.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing
company, with more than 215,000 people serving clients in more than 120
countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across
all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's
most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them
become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net
revenues of USD21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home
page is www.accenture.com.
Accenture is focused on enabling its clients to achieve breakthrough growth
throughout the rapidly changing mobile ecosystem. The Accenture Mobility
Services group offers five mobility services including consulting, software
services--applications, software services--devices and platforms, managed
services, and business integration services. These are designed to help
organizations embrace business to employee (B2E), business to consumer (B2C),
business to business (B2B) and machine to machine (M2M) business opportunities.
Accenture offers mobility and embedded software services across a wide range of
industries and platforms, including Symbian, WinMo (Microsoft Windows® Mobile),
Windows Phone, Android(TM), Blackberry®, iPhone®, Java(TM), Linux, Meego(TM).
About Nokia
Nokia is committed to connecting people to what matters to them by combining
advanced mobile technology with personalized services. More than 1.3 billion
people connect to one another with a Nokia, from our most affordable voice-
optimized mobile phones to advanced Internet-connected smartphones sold in
virtually every market in the world. Through Ovi (www.ovi.com), people also
enjoy access to maps and navigation on mobile, a rapidly expanding applications
store, a growing catalog of digital music, free email and more. Nokia's NAVTEQ
is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, and Nokia
Siemens Networks is one of the leading providers of telecommunications
infrastructure hardware, software and professional services globally.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein,
statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including,
without limitation, A) the plans and terms of the collaboration between Nokia
and Accenture (referred to below as the "transaction"); B) the timing and
expected benefits of the planned transaction, including expected operational and
financial benefits of the transaction to either of the parties or their
employees, C) the plan to seek opportunities to retrain and redeploy employees
being transferred and D) any statements preceded by "believe," "expect,"
"anticipate," "foresee," "target," "estimate," "designed," "plans," "will" or
similar expressions These statements are not guarantees of future performance
and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward-
looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not
prove to be accurate. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that might cause
actual results to differ from those expressed or implied include, but are not
limited to risks that: 1) Accenture and Nokia will not be able to close the
planned transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all; 2) the planned
transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture or for
Nokia or the employees being transferred to Accenture, including the plans to
seek opportunities to retrain and redeploy these employees; 3) Accenture's
results of operations could be negatively affected if Accenture cannot expand
and develop its services and solutions in response to changes in technology and
client demand; 4) Nokia's results of operations could be negatively affected if
Nokia cannot continue to serve its Symbian customers in the same or in an
improved manner than before the planned transaction; 5) Nokia's results of
operations could be negatively affected if it was not able to maintain the
viability of its current Symbian smartphone platform, including but not limited
to the targeted levels of sale of Symbian products; 6) Accenture's growth and
ability to compete may be adversely affected if Accenture cannot attract, retain
and motivate employees or efficiently utilize their skills, including those
personnel currently employed by the Nokia unit; 7) the risks, uncertainties and
other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture's most
recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to
the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as 8) the risk factors specified
on pages 12-39 of Nokia's annual report Form 20-F for the year ended December
31, 2010 under Item 3D. "Risk Factors." Statements in this press release speak
only as of the date they were made. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or
underlying assumptions subsequently proving to be incorrect (including, without
limitation, assumptions regarding the number of transferred employees likely to
be redeployed and the financial assumptions underlying the structure and
economic terms of the transaction) also could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Accenture or Nokia
undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements
made in this news release or to conform such statements to new information,
future events, actual results or changes in Accenture's or Nokia's expectations,
except to the extent legally required.
Media Enquiries:
Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
Accenture
Press Office
Tel. +358 2057 26049
Email: pressoffice.fi@accenture.com
www.nokia.com
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originality of the information contained therein.
Source: NOKIA via Thomson Reuters ONE
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