French venture capital firm Sofinnova Ventures has purchased handset manufacturer Sagem for $340 million, reports Mobile News. Safran, the parent company of Sagem that saw profits tumble 27 percent during the first half of the year, will retain a 10 percent stake in the business following the $340 million in handover charges and write-downs. Sofinnova plans to rename the company Sagem Wireless, under which it will develop and market white-label devices for other handset manufacturers and wireless carriers. It also plans to make phones for fashion, sports and luxury companies. More than half of the 690 employees will be transferred to software development companies that Sofinnova holds stakes in. About 310 employees will remain, 70 of which will be located at the company’s new headquarters in Cergy-Pontoise, France and 240 will transfer to the company’s manufacturing plant in Ningbo, China. Sagem currently builds phones for Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC), Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Orange. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year. Almost two years ago, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was said to be eyeing a purchase of Sagem, but later denied any interest, ZDNet reports.