After years of debating what to do, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has decided to break the company in two. The separation is targeted for the first quarter of next year.
The entities will become two, independently, publicly traded companies. One will include the mobile devices and home businesses, and the other will include its enterprise mobility solutions and networks businesses. Motorola’s co-CEO and held of mobile devices Sanjay Jha, will serve as CEO of the mobile devices and home businesses, and Co-CEO Greg Brown will serve as CEO of the enterprise group. Release.
Jha said combining the mobile devices and home business makes sense: “Together we will be best positioned to lead in the convergence of mobility, media, and the Internet. Our expanding portfolio of smartphones and end-to-end video content delivery capabilities will enable us to provide advanced mobile media solutions and multi-screen experiences for our customers.”
Brown will be in charge of the business that offers rugged two-way radios, mobile computers, secure public safety systems, scanning, RFID, and wireless network infrastructure.
The process of breaking up the company sounds like it will be fairly easy to do. The board of directors supports the plan, and Motorola says it will be able to split it in tow through a tax-free stock dividend of shares in the new company to Motorola shareholders. It says both businesses will be capitalized. It also expects that post-separation, the Enterprise Mobility and Networks business will achieve an investment grade rating and will be the entity responsible for Motorola’s existing public market debt at the time of separation.
More details will be reported in a conference call this afternoon.

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