[kde-china] Nokia to acquire Trolltech to accelerate software strategy

[Mingxi Wu]

http://trolltech.com/company/newsroom/announcements/press.2008-01-28.4605718236

Trolltech's Qt-based technology facilitate application development for
multiple platforms and devices

* Espoo, Finland and Oslo, Norway , 28 January - 2008 - Nokia and Trolltech
ASA today announced that they have entered into an agreement that Nokia will
make a public voluntary tender offer to acquire Trolltech (www.trolltech.com),
a company headquartered in Oslo, Norway and publicly listed on the Oslo
Stock Exchange. Trolltech is a recognized software provider with world-class
software development platforms and frameworks. In addition to the key
software assets, its talented team will play an important role in
accelerating the implementation of Nokia's software strategy. *
Nokia will offer NOK 16 per share in cash. The board of directors of
Trolltech has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept Nokia's
Offer. Holders of 35,024,830 shares, representing approximately 66,43 % of
Trolltech's issued shares and votes have as of January 27, 2008 irrevocably
undertaken to accept the Offer. Haavard Nord, Vuonislahti Invest AS
(controlled by Eirik Chambe-Eng), Teknoinvest and certain funds managed by
Index Ventures are among the shareholders who have agreed to tender their
shares to Nokia.

The acquisition of Trolltech will enable Nokia to accelerate its
cross-platform software strategy for mobile devices and desktop
applications, and develop its Internet services business. With Trolltech,
Nokia and third party developers will be able to develop applications that
work in the Internet, across Nokia's device portfolio and on PCs. Nokia's
software strategy for devices is based on cross-platform development
environments, layers of software that run across operating systems, enabling
the development of applications across the Nokia device range. Examples of
current cross-platform layers are Web runtime, Flash, Java and Open C.

"The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major
role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the
Internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add
more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms
attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space,"
said Kai Öistämö, Executive Vice President, Devices, Nokia. "Trolltech's
deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets
will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while
reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the
competitiveness of S60 and Series 40."

Nokia aims to continue the development of Trolltech's products and support
of new and existing customers. Nokia strives for an open approach to
technology that will encourage and support innovation in the industry,
enable fast adoption of new technologies and advance healthy competition.
Nokia embraces open source technology and will take further the open source
development culture found in Trolltech.

"Trolltech and Nokia share the goal of accelerating the adoption of
Trolltech's Qt based technology in the commercial market and in the open
source community," said Haavard Nord, CEO and founder of Trolltech. Eirik
Chambe-Eng, Chief Troll and co-founder of Trolltech continues "We are
thrilled to join forces with Nokia. The company's innovative culture and
resources will give our employees new and exciting possibilities and fulfill
our vision of "Qt everywhere"."

Nokia intends to continue to enhance Trolltech products through active and
ongoing development, for both desktop and mobile. To further stimulate
industry innovation based on Trolltech's products, Nokia plans to continue
to license Trolltech technology under both commercial and open source
licenses.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including
acceptance by shareholders representing more than 90 % of the fully diluted
share capital, and the necessary regulatory approvals.  The complete details
of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be set forth in an
offer document expected to be sent to Trolltech shareholders within two
weeks. The offer is expected to be open for acceptance for a period of four
weeks and to be completed in the second quarter of 2008. If the conditions
to the offer are satisfied or waived, Nokia will have a legal duty to make a
mandatory cash offer for or compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares.


*About Nokia *
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth
of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide
range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music,
navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through
these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for
communications networks. www.nokia.com

*About Trolltech*
Trolltech provides cross-platform software development frameworks and
application platforms. Trolltech's Qt is used in popular software such as
Skype, Google Earth, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Lucasfilm and by more than
5000 customers worldwide. Trolltech's Qtopia has enabled a new generation of
exciting consumer devices such as mobile handsets, video-phones, set-top
boxes and media players. Trolltech's software has shipped in more than 10
million devices.

Trolltech's products enable companies to easily build and deploy software
across a wide range of operating systems and electronic devices. The company
serves desktop and embedded application providers, as well as consumer
electronics and mobile vendors, who face challenges in delivering
user-friendly and differentiated software. Trolltech enables customers to
accelerate innovation, shorten time to market and increase revenues.
Trolltech's software improves the user experience by increasing the appeal
and quality of customer's applications on desktop and devices. The future
proof Qt software allows developers to code less, create more and deploy
anywhere.

Trolltech supports open source and commercial customers. The company has
offices in California, U.S.A.; Brisbane, Australia; Beijing, China; Berlin
and Munich, Germany; Oslo, Norway. It is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
under the ticker symbol TROLL. For more information about Trolltech, please
visit www.trolltech.com.
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