Troubled Motorola splits in two. Say Hello Mo-.
Motorola has announced that it will be splitting its business in half following a review of its mobile phone business.
The two companies will now consist of one which handles the profitable yet mind-numbingly boring network infrastructure stuff, and another that will attempt to recapture Motorola’s former days of glory making mobile devices. The split is designed to improve flexibility and provide a better target for investors and focus for managers.
Chief Exec Greg Brown has come under fire from analysts who believe that the decision to split represents a lack of faith in his ability to turn the ailing company around. And he will not be spearheading the new mobile devices company either, but instead staying on to oversee the equipment side. Motorola is currently looking for a new CEO for the handset company.
The split will take the form of a tax-free distribution to Motorola’s shareholders, subject to further financial, tax and legal analysis, resulting in shareholders holding shares of two independent and publicly-traded companies. In the meantime, there will no doubt be a large amount of further wrangling to decide which part gets what, who gets the most weekends, and why it’s important for it to spend Xmas at home.
Although rival phone manufactures have so far held their noses up at the one-time star of industry, there seems to be some hope lingering that the company could still be bought up. But either way, it looks like it might be a long time before Moto will be anywhere near ruling the handset roost again.
Motorola (via TechCrunch)
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