After facing strict regulatory approval, Nokia ( NYSE: NOK) said today it has officially closed the $8.1 billion acquisition of digital map company Navteq, which was before its expected Aug. 8 deadline. Now that Navteq will be part of Nokia, it will continue serve its current customer base but also invest in future, including expanding the number of countries it has already mapped and adding more content. Nokia believes strongly in the acquisition because they feel it is important to add context—time, place and people—to mobile internet services. Maps are a big component of that. Nokia’s CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo: “The addition of NAVTEQ ( NYSE: NVT) comes at the right time for Nokia’s business, allowing us to create the leading location platform just as context-aware and location-based Internet services expand rapidly into mobile communications devices.” Likewise, Navteq said the acquisition is key for them because it can tap into Nokia’s billion-plus mobile user base, and get a larger geographic reach and a broader range of content than it could ever get through its fleet of truck drivers that scour the globe. Navteq, based in Chicago, was founded in 1985 and has about 3,000 employees located in 30 countries. With the help of Navteq, Nokia Maps covers more than 200 countries with 70 of them navigable with options such as auto and pedestrian navigation. Release.

After facing strict regulatory approval, Nokia ( NYSE: NOK) said today it has officially closed the $8.1 billion acquisition of digital map company Navteq, which was before its expected Aug. 8 deadline. Now that Navteq will be part of Nokia, it will continue serve its current customer base but also invest in future, including expanding the number of countries it has already mapped and adding more content. Nokia believes strongly in the acquisition because they feel it is important to add context—time, place and people—to mobile Internet services. Maps are a big component of that. Nokia’s CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo: “The addition of NAVTEQ ( NYSE: NVT) comes at the right time for Nokia’s business, allowing us to create the leading location platform just as context-aware and location-based Internet services expand rapidly into mobile communications devices.” Likewise, Navteq said the acquisition is key for them because it can tap into Nokia’s billion-plus mobile user base, and get a larger geographic reach and a broader range of content than it could ever get through its fleet of truck drivers that scour the globe. Navteq, based in Chicago, was founded in 1985 and has about 3,000 employees located in 30 countries. With the help of Navteq, Nokia Maps covers more than 200 countries with 70 of them navigable with options such as auto and pedestrian navigation. Release.

Dour CAPS investors sometimes see a silver lining.

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Like TomTom’s TeleAtlas purchase before it, Nokia’s ( NYSE: NOK) $8.1 billion acquisition of mapping provider Navteq has been cleared by European Commission antitrust regulators. Despite beginning an in-depth investigation in March, the EC concluded the deal “would not significantly impede effective competition”. The clearance of both deals now means consolidation of the two main map vendors in to the mobile sector, despite earlier concern for the “duopoly market for navigable digital map databases (NAVTEQ ( NYSE: NVT) and Tele Atlas being the only suppliers) and Nokia’s strong position on the market for mobile telephones”. Nokia sees navigation and location-based services, reliant on positioning, as the critical next juncture in its Ovi roll-out. The EC concluded “the merged company would be unlikely to pursue a strategy of closing off competitors” because Tele Atlas provides sufficient competition. “In addition, the merged company would lack incentives to close off supplies of digital map databases to its competitors because a loss in sales of maps would not be compensated by increased sales of mobile telephones. Other mobile phone manufacturers could still compete with Nokia by working together with independent developers of navigation applications or by developing other features of their handsets.”

Vancouver, B.C. - October 15, 2009 - Nortec Ventures Corp. (TSX-V: NVT), ("Nortec" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Haukiaho Palladium-Platinum-Gold-Copper-Nickel ("PGE+Au-Cu-Ni") Project ("Haukiaho Project" or "Haukiaho") from Vulcan Resources Limited ("Vulcan"), an Australian company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: VCN).

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Elizabeth Harrow takes a look at news on the Street before the market opens.

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