Nokia sells HQ for Rs.1,172 crore

Finnish phone maker Nokia plans to sell its headquarters in Espoo, Finland, to a real estate investment firm Exilion for Rs.1,172.41 crore (170 million euro).

Nokia has agreed to lease its head office building from Exilion on a long-term lease.

The company said it expects to complete the sale by the end of 2012.

"We had a comprehensive sales process with both Finnish and foreign investors and we are very pleased with this outcome. As we have said before, owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets. We are naturally continuing to operate in our head office building on a long-term basis," said Timo Ihamuotila, CFO, Nokia.

Nokia has operated in the building since 1997. The 48,000 square meter building is located in Keilaniemi, Espoo, Finland.

"We are proud to partner with a company like Nokia. The deal nearly doubles the value of the fund's property portfolio," Exilion said in a separate statement.

Nokia has been struggling in the smartphone market and finding it hard to remain in competition. The company recently lost its crown as the world's No.1 mobile phone maker to Samsung.