Nokia's only viable strategic options sale of company or assets, says JPMorgan

After Bloomberg reported that Nokia (NOK) is working with advisers to explore strategic options, JPMorgan analyst Sandeep Deshpande said that the company's "only viable" options are a sale to an unrelated tech company or asset sales. A deal with Ericsson (ERIC) is "completely unlikely" and one with Samsung (SSNLF) is "more likely but not substantially so" given that Western governments and regulators want more players in 5G, not less, Deshpande contends. A sale to a U.S. company would likely be welcomed in the U.S., but "obvious choices" such as Cisco (CSCO) or Apple (AAPL) are unlikely to be interested, the analyst believes. While a smaller U.S. technology company exposed to government contracts could have interest, he cannot identify an "obvious acquirer," added Deshpande, who has a Neutral rating and EUR 3.75 price target on Nokia shares.