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Zebra buys Motorola’s enterprise business

by on15 April 2014



Black and white and in the red

Barcode printer maker Zebra Technologies is the unlikely buyer of Motorola Solutions' enterprise business. Zebra apparently came up with $3.5 billion in cash for the business. 

Motorola Solutions was what was left following the spinoff of the mobile phones division into Motorola Mobility in 2011. The company is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The enterprise arm of the business comprises communications offered to government enterprise mobility business. Motorola develops advanced data capture, wireless infrastructure, barcode scanning, two-way radios and businesspagers, wireless broadband networks, and RFID solutions to customers worldwide. 

Our guess is that Zebra was interested in the RFID side of things. The deal was agreed in the past few days and could be announced later today. Motorola Solutions' enterprise business has struggled as companies delay orders and cut down on spending. Sales in Motorola's enterprise business rose to $736 million from $733 million, for the fourth-quarter ended December 31.

Zebra has been around since 1969 when it was known as 'Data Specialties Incorporated' and made high-speed electromechanical products. The company changed its focus to specialty on-demand labeling and ticketing systems in 1982, and became 'Zebra Technologies Corporation' in 1986. 

It has more than $800 million in annual sales, the company specialises in speciality printer products, printer supplies and RFID technologies.

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