Updates to this story
While the world+dog has known that the software giant Microsoft is cuddling up to the former rubber boot maker Nokia, there are those in the industry who think that it is going to make the relationship a little closer.
Not satisfied with spending a billion green backs for its new relationship with Nokia, the shy and retiring CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, is apparently thinking of having a seamless motion and write a cheque for Nokia's mobile division.
The "huggy bear" distributing this particular word on the street is Russian technology blogger Eldar Murtazin. Murtazin's focus on life is phones and he has good deep throats within Nokia. While he does not know many details, he tells us that Vole and Nokia are in a hurry and that the deal could close before the end of this year.
According to Tom's Hardware, Nokia has poo-pooed the rumour claiming the rumours were inaccurate:
Mark Squires, Nokia's UK director of communications said that he didn't normally comment on rumours, but in this case Eldar's rumours were so obviously less accurate he had to fling a bit of poo-poo at them.
We have to admit that Squires might be right. After all why write a billion dollar agreement to install your software into a phone company you are going to have to spend a larger amount of cash to buy?
Nokia market value is 33 billion and the company has been in profit since 1996. Taking away 9-10 billion cash after debt it sums to 23 billion.
MSFT could give its own shares to the Nokia owners and not to use any money. They would get for 23 billion a company who sells every third mobile phone on this planet + 1/2 of the Nokia Siemens Networks (worth billions) + Navteq Corp. (Nokia paid 8 billion for it several years ago).
Buy NOK shares now?