Nokia and Siemens are in talks to sell a minority stake of around 30 percent in their Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) venture to a consortium of private equity groups, according to German publication Manager Magazin. The interested consortium includes Blackstone Group and Gores Group, according to the magazine, which says that most of the other potential private-equity bidders, such as KKR, Apollo, Bain Capital and Silver Lake Partners, are thought to have withdrawn from the contest. This week NSN received clearance from the European Commission for its proposed US$1.2 billion acquisition of the majority of Motorola’s network infrastructure business and this deal needs to close before a price can be finalised with potential NSN investors. Talks with potential private-equity bidders have been running since the summer. The company confirmed in August 2010 that it had received expressions of interest from potential partners. In November, it was reported that NSN was struggling to close a deal with price a stumbling block. Now it appears the action around NSN is starting to warm up again.

The EC’s clearance of NSN’s Motorola acquisition is not a surprise. As the commission says, Motorola’s networks unit has “a limited presence” in Europe. The boost it gives NSN is in Japan and North America not Europe. The deal was  announced in July 2010. Manager Magazin also notes that Juergen Walter is set to leave NSN because of a disappointing performance at the Business Solutions unit he heads. The unit will be restructured following his departure, according to the magazine, with systems integration and consultancy being shifted to another unit, the global services unit.