Digital mapping company Here is looking to expand in China, after a consortium of two Chinese companies and Singapore's sovereign fund GIC bought a 10 percent stake from the leading German carmakers controlling the mapping firm.

The two Chinese companies investing in Here are Tencent and NavInfo, which is already engaged in the digital mapping sector. With this new agreement, German automakers BMW, Daimler, and Audi reduced their stake in Here by 10 percent.

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The news underscored the recent trend of Chinese companies increasing their hold on high technology companies in Europe. The financial terms and conditions of the collaboration have not been disclosed yet. The deal is likely to close in the first half of 2017.

Here was initially bought by German automakers from Nokia in a $2.6 billion deal in 2015 to aid the development of self-driving cars. The acquisition of the firm not only allowed cars to use highly precise mapping system but also reduced their reliance on Google's mapping system.

The company offers 3D digital road maps, which have centimeter scale precision required by self-driving cars. Here and NavInfo are likely to form a joint venture for "the creation and provisioning of high definition mapping and location services for autonomous cars to ensure a consistent, industry-leading, global solution for a joint customer base".

It is believed that Here is looking for capital infusion for the purpose of ramping up its developmental activities. The company is reported to have talked with Bosch, Google, and Microsoft for funding as well. 

TagsTencent, NavInfo, BMW