Symbian Starts Final Sale Process

Nokia, which currently owns 32.2 percent of Symbian, is trying to buy the shares in the company currently held by Psion, which owns 31.1 percent. That would give Nokia a controlling interest in Symbian.

However, under the terms of the ownership agreement, other owners of Symbian can pre-empt Nokia by buying more shares of Symbian. The second largest current owner of Symbian is Ericsson, with 17.5 percent of the stock. The other owners -- Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens and Sony Ericsson, all own less than 10 percent.

Symbian said in a statement that it expected the pre-emption process to be completed in early July.

Nokia took a large stake in Symbian earlier this year in a move interpreted as an attempt to preempt Microsoft and others entering the market.

This story courtesy of TechWeb.