Carl Icahn is not being conservative about his opinion that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) will be a more valuable company once it has been split into two publicly held entities. Rather, the shareholder-activist billionaire, who has been investing in the handset-maker since 2007, has bet an additional $111 million into the company in just the past week. His stake now stands at around 250 million shares, or 10.7 percent, reports Barron’s.
In early August, Icahn became the company’s largest shareholder after buying enough shares to increase his stake to almost 10 percent from 8.75 percent in May. Neither Icahn nor Motorola would comment on the buys, but it seems like his silence equals approval, especially since he’s been extremely vocal about Motorola’s missteps in the past.
Two years ago, Icahn was particularly opinionated when he said the company’s board operated like a country club. Back in 2008, Icahn was arguing that this the best path for the company was for the company to break into two. He was pushing for it to happen as soon as possible. Ultimately, to end a proxy fight with Icahn, Motorola gave his representatives two seats on the board. In return, Icahn agreed to end litigation against the company and vote his shares in support of all nominees.
Now the company is on track to complete its break-up by 2011, its Android-based handsets are taking off and it was able to sell some of its network assets to Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens for $1.2 billion.
In afternoon trading, the company’s stock was trading up about 13 cents, or 1.71 percent, to $7.86 a share.

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