Motorola’s plan to split into two may happen faster than expected if Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens successfully bids for Motorola’s equipment arm. The WSJ reports that the two companies are in talks, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could be worth $1.1 to $1.3 billion, and could be reached in the next few weeks if it doesn’t fall apart. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) declined to comment.
The company’s networking-infrastructure division would give Nokia Siemens a stronger foothold in the U.S., and would make it more competitive against global giants such as Chinese supplier Huawei Technologies and Swedish company Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC). In the past, co-CEO Greg Brown, who would be in charge of the entity post-break-up, has said the company would consider offers for the business.
Motorola plans to split the company into two separately publicly traded entities by the first quarter of next year. One will be called Motorola Mobility, which will focus on mobile phones and set-top boxes, and the other will be called Motorola Solutions, focusing on the networking business.

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