UPDATED: Nokia (NYSE: NOK) wants it all. The Finnish handset maker said today that it has launched a cash offer to acquire all of the shares of Symbian that it does not already own, and not just Siemens’ 8.4 percent stake, as reported earlier. Nokia is offering 3.467 euros ($5.40) per share to acquire the remaining 52 percent of the company, a total of 264 million euros ($410 million). So far, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson, Panasonic, and Siemens have all accepted the offer. Nokia also expects Samsung to accept the offer as well. More importantly, Nokia said it will make the software royalty-free—a move that will help it compete with the rise of open mobile initiatives from the likes of the LiMo Foundation and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) (release).

Nokia has also announced that along with other cell phone makers Sony Ericsson and Motorola (NYSE: MOT), operators AT&T (NYSE: T), NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and chip makers Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics, it has formed the Symbian Foundation to continuing developing the platform. Nokia said it will donate its Symbian and S60 software to the Foundation, while Sony Ericsson and Motorola said they intended to contribute technology from UIQ and DOCOMO has indicated its willingness to contribute its MOAP(S) assets. A new Symbian platform is expected to roll out in 2009. The new foundation is open to all organizations (release).

Original Post:
In a move bound to raise lots of controversy in the handset world, Nokia has increased its already substantial stake in UK-based mobile software/OS firm Symbian to above majority now. It has bought Siemens AG’s 8.4 percent stake in Symbian to increase its holding to 56.3 percent, reports WSJ. It will pay the German company about Euro 70 million ($109.4 million) for the stake.

Some of Nokia’s fiercest competitors use Symbian: Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC). Others who have minority stakes in Symbian are Sweden’s Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, which owns 15.6 percent, while Sony Ericsson owns another 13.1 percent. Nokia would require a 75 percent stake to gain control of Symbian, which was formed by a consortium in 1998.

• Symbian Shipments Fall In Q1, But Is Confident About Current Period