Motorola close to splitting in two

Motorola has moved a stage further in its plan to split off its mobile device and set-top box businesses into a separate company.

The firm has now filed an initial Form 10 Registration Statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which it said marked a key stage in the separation plan.

Once accepted, the part of the firm that makes products for businesses, such as network equipment and bar code scanners, will rename itself Motorola Solutions, while the mobile phone and set-top box divisions will operate under the Motorola Mobility banner.

“The filing of the Form 10 Registration Statement is an important achievement in our separation plan to create two independent, publicly traded companies,” said Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive of Motorola.

“Mobile Devices has made significant progress in 2010, and we are confident that the separation is the right strategy for Motorola, our stockholders, our customers, our partners and our employees.

He added that the two divisions would be "uniquely positioned" to address the business opportunities resulting from the convergence of media, mobility, the internet and computing.

These sentiments were echoed by his co-CEO, Greg Brown, who said: “We expect the separation will further enable these businesses to address the needs of our customers and partners around the world.”