Telecoms equipment giant Nokia-Siemens is to buy Motorola's wireless-network business for 1.2 billion dollars, the companies said Monday in a joint statement, according to dpa. The deal will enable Nokia-Siemens to improve its position in the important North American and Japanese markets and should close by the end of 2010. "I believe the addition of Motorola's networks business will significantly strengthen our worldwide presence, enhance our scale in the United States, Japan and other priority regions and reinforce our leadership position in the global wireless sector," Nokia Siemens Chief Executive Rajeev Suri said. The company, which is a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp and Germany's Siemens AG, said the deal would allow it to overtake China's Huawei to make it the world's second largest supplier of wireless-networking equipment after Sweden's L M Ericsson. Approximately 7,500 employees from the US, India and China are expected to transfer to Nokia Siemens Networks from Motorola's wireless network infrastructure business when the transaction closes, the companies said.
