Uber is best known for allowing people to book a taxi through its smartphone application. But the fast-growing company has far broader ambitions.
More and more, Uber is positioning itself as a logistics company. The goal is to deliver people and things within cities as quickly as possible — relying heavily on Google’s Maps in the process.
That dependency may soon change.
Uber has submitted a bid for Here, the main competitor to Google Maps, for as much as $3 billion, according to three people with knowledge of the offer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Here is owned by Nokia, the Finnish telecom giant, which announced last month that it was considering selling the business.
The bid is competing with one in the works from a consortium of German automakers, including BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, according to two of those people. The automakers are teaming up with the Chinese search engine Baidu on the offer, the people said. A separate bid from an undisclosed private equity firm has also been submitted, and Nokia is expected to announce the sale of its mapping unit by the end of May.
Negotiations over the sale of Nokia’s mapping business are continuing and the talks still may not lead to a deal, the people cautioned. Representatives for Uber, the German automakers and Nokia declined to comment on the deal rumors.