Huawei to sell Honor smartphone business for $15 billion
Four weeks ago, Huawei entered negotiations with potential buyers regarding a partial sale of its Honor smartphone business. A month on, the giant seems to have reached an agreement.
Huawei is selling its entire Honor smartphone unit
Speaking to Reuters, people with knowledge of the matter have revealed that Huawei recently reached a deal valued at $15.2 billion (100 billion yuan) to sell its entire Honor smartphone division, rather than part of it as initially proposed.
The new owner is a consortium headed by Digital China, a distributor that already sells Honor smartphones, and the local government of Shenzhen, where Honor is currently headquartered.
Huawei has agreed to sell almost all assets including the Honor brand, its research & development capabilities, and supply chain management. The consortium plans to retain most of the management team and 7,000 employees.
The all-cash deal could be announced as soon as Sunday, November 15, and will allow Honor to circumvent the US trade restrictions that have crushed Huawei in recent months.
Canalys estimates Honor accounted for 26% of the 51.7 million smartphones Huawei sold last quarter. That equates to 13.4 million units, which means Honor should be the eighth-largest smartphone brand in the world ahead of Motorola and LG, but behind Realme and Oppo, after the separation from Huawei.
Long-term, the consortium-owned Honor hopes to go public within three years.
Source: Phonearena
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