Drake Star Partners Advises HMD on its $230m Growth Equity Financing

ESPOO | FINLAND | LONDON | UK | 11 August, 2020 - HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, today announces, it has successfully raised a B round of 230 million USD from a consortium of some of the most well-known technology leaders and strategic partners.

This transaction is one of the of the largest growth equity financings raised in Europe in 2020 [1]. Drake Star Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to the company on this transaction.

As well as establishing itself as a leading feature phone manufacturer by value [2], HMD Global has been successful in clearly differentiating its Android™ smartphone offering. Nokia smartphones come with premium Nordic design that is inspired by the company’s European heritage, superior product quality, premium ZEISS™ imaging experience, and market-leading reliability, as well as security features including a three-year monthly security update promise and two-year Android™ software upgrade commitment, with the Android One™ promise. As the only key European smartphone player, HMD Global is increasingly popular with both enterprises and consumers who are looking for a pure, secure, and up-to-date smartphone experience.

The investment will further fuel HMD Global’s strategic vision in four key areas. Firstly, it will accelerate the company’s mission to make 5G smartphones accessible to consumers across the world, with an emphasis on strong partnerships with US carriers. Secondly, HMD Global will further transition to a digital-first offering as part of a new post-COVID reality. It will also expand its presence in key growth markets including the recently commenced operations in Brazil, as well as Africa and India, and finally the investment will help the business strengthen its leading position beyond just hardware and into a holistic mobile service provider. This year alone, HMD Global launched its international data roaming service, HMD Connect, enhanced its mobile cybersecurity capabilities with the acquisition of assets of Valona Labs, and built dedicated resources on software, security and services with a new research and development Centre of Excellence in Tampere, Finland.

Since the company began its operations in 2016, HMD Global is now active in 91 markets across 8 regions and 250,000 retail outlets and has sold over 240 million phones to date.

Jean-Francois Baril, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, HMD Global, says: “Our unique business model, based on asset-light global deployment and strong partnerships with the best in the industry, is entering a new level of maturity with the valued support of some of the most influential market-makers in mobile devices. I am extremely proud of our significant achievements to date and also thrilled about the immense opportunity before us to accelerate our journey towards excellence. A big thank you to the Drake Star team for making this transaction a great success.”

Marc Deschamps, Managing Partner & Executive Chairman of Drake Star Partners, added: “It’s been a privilege to advise the HMD Global team on delivering this large and strategic transaction, Europe’s third largest tech private placement this year. HMD Global, with its Nokia phones, is Europe’s only large-scale mobile phone provider for quality feature phones and secure Android smartphones. This financing round, led by a wide consortium of large strategic partners demonstrates HMD’s unique strategic position and value proposition. A special thank you to the entire HMD Global team for their unwavering teamwork and commitment throughout the process – it’s been a pleasure working with them.”

Florian Seiche, CEO, HMD Global, says: “Since the very beginning, HMD Global has worked to build strong bonds with our strategic partners. This additional investment further validates our long-term business strategy and is evidence of our collective mission to make modern mobile technology accessible to everyone. Security, reliability and dependability are the cornerstones of our offering and we will ensure we are using these funds to deliver the best experiences people have come to expect from a Nokia phone. As the only major European smartphone manufacturer, we remain true to our Finnish roots and the hallmarks that our customers trust Nokia phones to be synonymous with. With the support of our heavyweight partners, I am truly excited for the next chapter of Nokia phones.”

Legal Advisor to HMD: White and Case (lead partner: Janko Lindros)

Inquiries: For further inquiries, please contact:

About HMD Global

Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, HMD Global Oy is the home of Nokia phones. HMD designs and markets a range of smartphones and feature phones targeted at a range of consumers and price points. With a commitment to innovation and quality, HMD is the proud exclusive licensee of the Nokia brand for phones and tablets. For further information, see www.hmdglobal.com.

Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Android, Google and other related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC.

[1] Third largest technology company growth financing in Europe in 2020 (Source: Pitchbook) 
[2] IDC smartphone and feature phone market reports 2019 (Q1, Q2, Q3 & Q4) and 2020 (Q1)