divestment
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Uber looks to speed up sale of its stake in Russian ride-hailing app Yandex
The company currently owns a 29% stake in Russia's largest ride-hailing platform.
Nokia finishes offloading Vertu, rumors claim Vertu plans a matching switch to Android
Nokia has ended one of the more significant chapters in its tumultuous history: the Finnish phone giant has finished divesting Vertu to private equity firm EQT VI, shedding direct control of the definitive luxury phone brand. The formal switch lets Nokia keep a 10 percent stake and move 1,000 staffers to the newly independent company. Where Vertu goes next may be more intriguing, however. There's no official word on any change of direction, but that hasn't stopped tipsters from claiming to TechCrunch that there's a big shakeup ahead. Supposedly, former Nokia VP Anssi Vanjoki will finally get the phone maker CEO position he's been looking for through a Vertu spot, and he won't simply follow in his former employer's footsteps -- upcoming Vertu phones may use Android, not Windows Phone. While it's a very unconfirmed rumor, a switch-up wouldn't be completely surprising when Vertu is still an all-Symbian house that needs more than just a few extra jewels to stay relevant.
Atari seeking to sell Cryptic Studios as another fiscal year ends in losses
In its 2010–11 fiscal year earnings report today, Atari announced it will be dropping, er, "divesting" MMO developer Cryptic Studios. The publisher accounted for the studio under its "discontinued operations" in the report. In other words, it's trying to sell Cryptic. Overall, Atari reported a net loss of €6.2 million ($8.8 million) for this fiscal year that ended March 31, 2011 -- an admitted improvement over the €19.4 million lost in the previous fiscal year. Cryptic alone was responsible for €5.3 million ($7.5 million) in losses during fiscal 2010–11. Representatives for Atari and Cryptic declined to offer any statements beyond those in today's financial report. Cryptic's Champions Online went free-to-play earlier this year, and the studio is currently working on a Neverwinter MMO and "Season 4" of Star Trek Online. Atari purchased the developer in 2008 during an optimistic period for the publisher.
