Motorola, in search of ways to improve its digital phone business, will buy the consumer wireless-phone operations of Lucent Technologies.
The Wall Street Journal reported the companies confirmed the deal Sunday and said an announcement would come Monday. Analysts estimated its value at between US$100 million and $200 million.
Such a deal would allow Lucent (LU) to begin shedding businesses associated with its failed Philips Electronics venture while advancing Motorola's technical foundation in digital phones, the Journal reported.
The disastrous 60-40 Philips Consumer Communications joint venture -- Philips held the majority stake -- ended in October. Lucent took a $110 million charge and said it would close down its wireless handset portion of the venture and sell off components that include the leading corded and cordless phones and answering machines in the United States.
Motorola, meanwhile, will gain a laboratory in Piscataway, New Jersey and 300 Lucent engineers. "The facility will be operated as a state of the art Motorola design center," a company spokesman told the * Journal.*
