Sometimes life does not imitate art. Sometimes life just imitates soap opera. Take the case of Finnish telecom Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and its seemingly straightforward plan to buy up a 31.1% interest in British handset software developer Symbian.
The cast of characters just keeps evolving with every episode. In chapter one, we have a lover's triangle set up: Our dashing hero, Nokia, desperately tries to wrest its one true love -- the nearly one-third stake in Symbian (OK, this is a stretch) -- from the stake's current unappreciative paramour, Psion (played by a distant and unfeeling Brit).
In chapter two, conniving friends and family (played by Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERICY), Panasonic (a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric (NYSE:MC)), Samsung, Siemens (NYSE:SI), and Sony Ericsson (a joint venture between Sony (NYSE:SNE) and Ericsson)) scheme to keep Nokia and the Symbian stake apart.
This week, chapter three opens with Psion's long-lost cousin, Phoenix Asset Management Partners, returning from Arizona to try to convince Psion not to give herself to Nokia, but to instead try an initial public offering of itself to the mysterious "Mr. Market."
According to Corporate Soap Opera Digest, in this week's episode, Phoenix will ask Psion shareholders to vote against the sale of Psion's 31.1% stake in Symbian to Nokia when the matter comes up for a vote on Friday. Phoenix apparently believes that Psion would make out much better if Symbian went public (and Psion subsequently shares in the profits of such an offering) than if Psion simply sold its interest to Nokia.
Psion's management opposes Phoenix's proposal, and believes that most Psion shareholders will support management's position. But as things stand now, Phoenix is looking for a fight. It controls 13% of Psion, says another 5% of Psion shareholders backs its position, and that the up to 35% of remaining Psion individual investor shareholders' votes are still undecided.
Who will win? Tune in next week. Same soap time. Same soap channel.
Give your thoughts about Nokia's desire for a larger Symbian stake on the Fool's Nokia discussion board.
Rich Smith owns no shares in any companies mentioned in this article, although he has owned shares of Nokia in the past. The Fool has a disclosure policy .
