NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Motorola Inc (MOT.N) may spin off its TV set-top box and cellphone businesses into a publicly traded company, and sell its wireless network equipment unit, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A report on the Journal website on Wednesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said a decision has yet to be finalized after it was discussed at board meetings at the end of January.
Motorola was not immediately available for comment.
Reuters learned last month that Motorola had slowed down efforts to sell its business unit that houses both network equipment and set-top boxes and was eyeing spinning off its network business with phones [ID:N14234766].
The Journal's story said that process has ended and that Motorola now sees a combination of set-top boxes and cellphones as a way for the company to differentiate itself from other phone makers, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, second-round bidding for the network equipment business would begin soon.
Telecommunications equipment companies interested in the sale have included Arris Group (ARRS.O) and China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL].
Motorola said last month that it was going ahead with a plan to separate its handset business but its top executives, Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha, also said they were looking at structural alternatives.
The company has been struggling for years to win back share in the handset market.
Its set-top box unit has suffered due to the weak economy and its wireless network equipment business has suffered in recent years as consolidation among telecom operators has intensified competition among network gear makers.
No comments:
Post a Comment