Intel to buy 15% stake in German digital mapping firm HERE

US chip maker Intel is acquiring a 15 per cent stake in German digital mapping firm HERE, in order to be part of smart and connected cars of the future.

Both companies did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction, but said that the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, after obtaining regulatory approvals.

Intel will nominate Doug Davis, senior vice president and general manager of the Automated Driving Group (ADG) at Intel to HERE's board once the transaction is completed.

Intel is buying the stake from HERE owners, German carmakers Daimler, BMW and Audi.

The purchase comes just a week after Chinese digital maps and location services provider NavInfo Co Ltd, internet services provider Tencent Holdings Ltd and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC struck a deal to buy a 10 per cent stake in HERE. (See: NavInfo, Tencent, GIC to buy 10% in German digital maps company HERE) Intel and HERE also signed an agreement to collaborate on the research and development of a highly scalable proof-of-concept architecture that supports real-time updates of high definition (HD) maps for highly and fully automated driving.

Additionally, the two companies plan to jointly explore strategic opportunities that result from enriching edge-computing devices with location data.

''Cars are rapidly becoming some of the world's most intelligent, connected devices,'' said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. ''We look forward to working with HERE and its automotive partners to deliver an important technology foundation for smart and connected cars of the future.''

''A real-time, self-healing and high definition representation of the physical world is critical for autonomous driving, and achieving this will require significantly more powerful and capable in-vehicle compute platforms,'' said Edzard Overbeek, CEO of HERE.

''As a premier silicon provider, Intel can help accelerate HERE's ambitions in this area by supporting the creation of a universal, always up-to-date digital location platform that spans the vehicle, the cloud and everything else connected,'' he added.

Intel will also work with Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen to test the architecture. Intel and HERE envision making the architecture broadly available across the automotive industry as a seamlessly integrated offering that simplifies and shortens time of development for automakers.

In August last year, Audi, BMW and Daimler bought HERE from Nokia for €2.55 billion ($2.6 billion) in order to offer a viable alternative to mapping services of Google and Apple. (See: German auto consortium close to buying Nokia maps for $2.7 bn).

HERE (formerly Ovi Maps), is a global leader in the mapping and location intelligence business offering maps for nearly 200 countries, voice guided navigation in 97 countries in more than 50 languages and live traffic information for 41 countries.

Its maps are found in four out of five cars in North America and Europe with integrated in-dash navigation. It also powers mobile devices, connected devices and enterprise.