Nokia to buy stake in Quebec firm

26 Sep 2001 at 08:17 GMT Marc van Impe / Newscasters

Nokia will take an equity stake in a small Montreal company that expects to boost its sales sixfold over the next two years because of the deal.

The Canadian Globe and Mail announced today that VoiceAge Corp. signed an agreement with the Finnish powerhouse that should help the Montreal firm meet its target of boosting its work force by about 40 per cent by the end of the year. The two companies, which have been working together since before VoiceAge was spun off from Sipro Lab Telecom Inc. of Montreal more than two years ago, said the deal will also involve sharing technology and information.

VoiceAge specializes in voice- and multimedia-compression technology designed to allow cellphones and other wireless telecom devices to provide superior audio quality. The private company expects to post revenue of about $3-million this fiscal year, but believes this new deal will allow it to boost that to about $18-million in 2003.

The company also expects its work force of 32 to increase to about 60 during that same period. "We're rolling now," said VoiceAge spokesman Paul Goulet. "It means we're the go-to people."

VoiceAge wouldn't provide the value of Nokia's investment, other than to say it is a minority stake in the "millions" of dollars. Laurent Amar, a founder and vice-president of VoiceAge, said the equity portion of the deal is less important to his company than access to technology and an enhanced role in Nokia's sales channels. "It gives us more confidence in the future. It gives us more leverage."

VoiceAge officials also said the deal won't affect the company's independence, or its ability to do business with Nokia rivals such as Qualcomm and L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co.