Nokia Siemens Networks does $1.2 billion deal with Motorola

Acquisition deal

Motorola has confirmed it has entered into an agreement to sell most of its wireless network infrastructure to Nokia Siemens Networks.

The deal, which was strongly rumoured last week, is worth $1.2 billion (0.79 billion) and will see Nokia Siemens Networks take over Motorola's leading WiMAX business, along with GSM, CDMA and LTE assets.

However, Motorola will keep hold of its iDEN sector, along with nearly all the patents related to its wireless network infrastructure business.

"We are excited to have reached this agreement to combine our networks team with such an industry leader," said Greg Brown, co-chief executive (co-CEO) of Motorola.

"This is great news for our customers, our investors and our people and will allow us to sharpen our strategic focus on providing mission and business critical solutions for our government, public safety, and enterprise customers."

The companies have agreed 7,500 employees will transfer from Motorola, along with research and development sites based in the US, China and India.

"This is an exciting acquisition that I believe has significant benefits for customers, employees and our shareholders," said Rajeev Suri, chief executive of Nokia Siemens Networks.

"Motorola's current customers will continue to get world-class support for their installed base and a clear path for transitioning to next generation technologies while employees will join an industry leader with global scale and reach."

Nokia Siemens Networks is hoping to strengthen relationships with over 50 operators across the world thanks to the agreement, as well as moving its way up the ranks of the top wireless providers.

The deal is expected to complete by the end of 2010.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.