(Wraps separates, adds share reaction)
HELSINKI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Nokian Renkaat said on Monday Japan's largest tyre maker, Bridgestone Corp , has agreed to purchase an 18.9-percent stake in the Finnish winter tyre specialist for 78.34 million euros ($84.89 million).
Bridgestone, which agreed to purchase the two million Nokian Renkaat shares from Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia , told Reuters the deal was purely a financial investment and it had no current plans to raise or lower the holding.
"At this point it is a business investment. We see a lot of potential synergies and we want to build on those," Bridgestone Europe Vice President Des Collins told Reuters by telephone. Bridgestone Europe NV/SA is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp.
Bridgestone agreed to purchase Nokian Renkaat shares for 39.17 euros per share.
Shares in Nokian Renkaat soared 8.4 percent to 37 euros on the news, outperforming a slightly firmer Helsinki bourse and a flat DJ Stoxx Auto index .
Nokian Renkaat, the Nordic region's largest tyre maker, said in a statement the transaction was conditional upon approval by the German antitrust authorities.
The firm was not immediately available for comment.
Collins said that Bridgestone had been in contact with Nokian Renkaat management before agreeing to take the stake.
He said that Bridgestone was interested in Nokian Renkaat because of its strong position in the Nordic countries and its know-how in the winter tyre market.
Bridgestone, one of world's top global tyre makers, saw rising profits in 2002 on the back of good exports after it was battered for two years by the fallout from deadly accidents involving its U.S. unit Firestone tyres.