Motorola-Symbol Deal OK’d by European Commission

The European Commission Monday approved mobile phone maker Motorola’s proposed acquisition of Symbol Technologies, a U.S. company specializing in building super-strong portable devices including computers.

Motorola said last September that it would pay US$3.9 billion for Symbol, a leader in portable bar-code scanners and customized handheld computers.

The deal expands Motorola’s stake in the market for business-oriented mobile devices, and if successful would be the phone maker’s largest acquisition since it bought cable TV-box maker General Instrument in 2000.

The horizontal overlaps between the activities of Motorola and Symbol are limited, the commission said in a statement. “For all product categories concerned, the new firm would continue to face several strong, effective competitors,” it said.

The commission also analyzed the effects of the proposed transaction arising from Symbol’s position on the market for data capture and scanning devices, which are incorporated in “ruggedized’ mobile computers.

The regulator concluded that alternative and competing sources of supply would continue to exist and that there would be no particular risks of these markets being closed off.

More information on the case is available on the commission website.

-Paul Meller, IDG News Service (Brussels Bureau)

Related Link:

• Motorola to Buy Symbol Technologies for $3.9B

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